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Stephen Taylor

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Can the visual system of the mind pull up stored images and "see" them?

In a darkened room with my eyes wide open my mind is able to generate images that I can often manipulate by thinking about what i want to see. I can change a face into the face of someone I know or into the face of a person with certain characteristics. I often see abstract flickering images in neon colors such as yellow and bright orange. Those images pulsate on their own. I can often imagine what my bedroom looks like with my eyes closed with sufficient realism that I don't know (when the room is fully dark) whether I have my eyes open or not. My mind also produces scenes which seem to be real but which are new to me; scenes with people and building with my viewpoint above the scene. I am not disturbed by this kind of imaging; I like it and seek to initiate it sometimes.

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Topics: brain activity visualisation
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  • Stephen Taylor

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    May 30 2012: The focus of this conversation, as I hoped to present it, was the ability to manipulate the imaging system of the brain. I don't think of that as imagination. Without taking light into the system via the eyes, can the brain "see" images? Can we access stored images and manipulate them? I think I can.
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    Ricardo Marques

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    May 29 2012: I'm not sure what it is your asking. But If I understood it correctly: Yes.
    But how accurate the images are depends on your memory and your imagination.
    The visual cortex activity of imagining and seeing images is actually pretty similar.
    Personally I have no trouble of doing this, further more one can also manipulate the images in 3d.
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    Gerald O'brian 50+

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    May 24 2012: Interestingly, this is how you look at stuff in daylight too! Images come from the brain, not from the outside.
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    Debra Smith 200+

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    May 24 2012: That depends on just how good your imagination is.
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    edward long 100+

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    May 24 2012: I can see my Grandma with her loving arms pulling me in for a healing hug after I crashed on my snow sled in the winter of 1952. She looks relieved, and smells great! So, yes, it can, but recall is not hallucination! Thanks Mr. Taylor.
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