• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
People are stunned after finally realising why they see swirling colours when their eyes are closed

Home> News

Published 17:39 16 Nov 2022 GMT

People are stunned after finally realising why they see swirling colours when their eyes are closed

Our bodies work in very weird and very wonderful ways

Aisha Nozari

Aisha Nozari

Our bodies work in weird and wonderful ways. Sometimes gross ways, too. Like that thing that happens down there after scoffing a particularly punchy jalfrezi.

Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes. Eyes. They’re definitely one of the coolest body parts, because of the whole letting us see thing.

They even work when our eyelids are shut tight. Most of us have seen swirling flashes of colour even though we’ve got our eyes closed, and the reason why has fascinated internet users.

Advert

Our bodies work in weird and wonderful ways.
Geoff Smith / Alamy Stock Photo

Said flashing lights are called phosphenes. They’re basically a visual phenomenon that’s the result of the mechanical stimuli sparked by the pressure our eyes feel when our eyelids are closed.

According to the Wexner Medical Centre, our retinas generate phosphenes after such stimulation and convert them into electrical signals which are carried to our brains.

Learning about how this sort of visual information is interpreted by our brains in a Reddit post, people were quick to say they’d been left in awe.

One person wrote: “Wow,” while another person added: “Awesome!”

Advert

Other comments included: “I learn more on reddit than in college,” “Magic!” and “And here I thought I was a superhero.”

While we’re on the topic of eyeballs, earlier this year, scientists said a revolutionary bionic eye implant had allowed a blind woman to see in what was billed as a ‘groundbreaking’ new treatment.

French company Pixium Vision gave an 88-year-old woman an implant and she was able to detect signals in her blind eye.

As part of the treatment, the woman had a 2mm wide microchip implanted under her retina and wore special glasses with a camera connected to a computer around her waist.

The chip captured the video from the glasses and transmitted it to the computer, which used AI algorithms to identify objects and guide the focus of the glasses.

The glasses then projected this view through the eye and into the microchip via an infra-red beam, with the chip converting that into electrical signals which were sent to the brain.

Advert

Thanks to the bionic implant, the woman could make out words through her blind eye, which occurred as a result of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

“Losing the sight in my left eye through dry AMD has stopped me doing the things I love, like gardening and playing indoor bowls,” she said in January.

“I am thrilled to be the first to have this implant, excited at the prospect of enjoying my hobbies again and I truly hope many others will benefit from this.”

Featured Image Credit: agefotostock / Dimitris Kolyris / Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: Science

Aisha Nozari
Aisha Nozari

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

8 hours ago
9 hours ago
10 hours ago
12 hours ago
  • (Getty Images/Buddhika Weerasinghe)
    8 hours ago

    What its like to drive a flying car explained as they are going on sale much sooner than you think

    The future is now my friends

    News
  • Instagram/donciccioosteria
    9 hours ago

    Restaurant owner hits out at locals who ‘humiliated’ staff as they’re forced to close down

    The Italian spot 'thanked' those for 'never supporting' it

    News
  • Getty/Anadolu
    10 hours ago

    How to see rare comet tonight for last time in 1,300 years

    Lemmon will zoom past our planet very soon

    News
  • Getty Stock Images
    12 hours ago

    Pharmacist warns of the detrimental effect your heating could be having on your health

    A pharmacist has warned of the negative health impacts your central heating could be having and how to combat them

    News
  • Doctor explains why humans are born so 'helpless' but baby animals know exactly what to do
  • People 'can't understand' simulation that shows what people would see if they had no eyes
  • People left stunned after realising they could buy tiny home from Amazon for just £15,000
  • Protocol NASA astronauts finally heading home will have to follow when they return to Earth on SpaceX rocket