What happens in the visual centers of our brain when we are in absolute darkness? Logically, there should be no activity there: after all, in the absence of light, no information comes to the visual analyzers. But experiments have shown that this is not the case. In total darkness, our brains make up pictures based on imagination and past experience.
How do the corresponding parts of the brain behave under conditions of visual deprivation, that is, in the absence of any information for perception? Logically, in such conditions, the brain should rest and be inactive. Employees of the British University of Cambridge conducted experiments and found out that this is not so: in conditions of complete darkness in the visual centers, a rather high disinhibition was observed.
Ferrets of different ages took part in the Cambridge experiment. Scientists placed very young and adult animals in a dark room. Some ferrets were left in the dark, others were shown a film, and others were shown on the screen some objects not familiar to animals. At the same time, neurophysiologists scanned the activity of the prefrontal cortex of their brain.
The prefrontal cortex of adult ferrets in complete darkness was almost as active as when watching a video or looking at unfamiliar objects. But the brains of younger animals showed much less activity in the dark. Scientists concluded: in the absence of visual information, the brain "completes" the picture of an invisible environment, which could be in a dark room. He does this based on past experience. In this case, it is logical that older ferrets, who have correspondingly more experience, more easily "completed" the imaginary picture.
Curious, isn't it? It turns out that it is hard for the brain to endure the absence of information (in this case, visual), and it comes up with the missing image. The same law applies to the human psyche. It has been proven that if you leave a person in the dark for a long time or blindfold him, his brain will begin to "disinhibit" the cortex, which will manifest itself in the form of phantom sensations that do not correspond to reality: goosebumps, warm or cold air currents, non-existent light flashes or outlines emerging in the dark, apparent noises, music.
Studies have shown that in conditions of prolonged isolation (for example, in a isolation chamber or boxing), a person's need to receive sensations increases - the so-called sensory hunger. Perfectly healthy people in such an environment may even have hallucinations caused by a lack of real experience. At best, the person fell asleep - the brain reacted to the absence of signals from the environment by plunging into a drowsy state: apparently, “decided” that there was nothing more to do.
In the Middle Ages and in later times, sensory deprivation was a common practice of torture. The torturer bound the victim, blindfolded her, plugged her ears and nose. At the same time, the bound person could breathe, but he was completely deprived of sight, hearing and smell, and almost completely - of touch. It was almost impossible to endure this torture, since the human psyche was not able to withstand the loss of feelings.
The same can be said about emotions: our psyche is designed to constantly feel something. Emotions are a kind of reflection of reality, something like the sixth organ of perception. It is not for nothing that they say that only indifference is worse than a bad attitude, and the greatest psychological problems await not the children of hot-tempered parents, but those who were raised by cold and aloof mother and father. According to experts, most depressive states, social problems and complexes are based on emotional deprivation.
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YANA FILIMONOVA