Blog Post #3 - The Biology of the Mind (Chapter 2)

The first activity that I did was called "Contrast/Color Illusions." This activity consisted of a checkboard with a tall shape casting a shadow over it. This made the colors of the board look darker or lighter depending on where they were located because of the light. The second activity was called "Seeing more than your eye does.". In this activity you had to cover your left eye and stare at a cross. Next to the cross was a round black circle. When you moved your head closer to the screen, the dot disappeared into a blindspot even though it was still there. These activites show how the brain can interpret different colors and make up things.

I learned that we have to look at things closely to make sure our brain is not fooling us. Whether it is the color of something and you need to take into play your surrounding areas. I can apply the blindspot activity to driving everday. Even though a car is in the lane next to me, if there is something in the way my brain is going to tell me there is no car. These activites will really change how I look at things and perceive them. Is my brain trying to trick me or is it actually what I really see?

I have learned in this unit that the brain is way more complex than anyone can imagine. I never knew that we had complex neurons that process information in milliseconds. That is so hard to even understand because nothing in our everyday lives that we encounter is at that speed. I also though it was very intriguing to know how we break down the peripheral nervous system into different movements and glands and then again down into around and calming actions. Everyone knows the brain is very high tech but it's hard to believe all this stuff is going on right now in our brains.

The video "The Man With Two Brains" was so crazy. I never knew something like that was even possible. Performing that kind of surgery just seems so crazy and unreal because of one wrong move could change his life drastically. What is really crazy is how it helped cure him and he did not even know the difference. After watching the video it made me realize how we couldn't draw like he was with the two different shapes. You never think about all the little things until you see something like that. Overall, the video was very imformative and interesting!