Page 413 - Total War on PTSD

Despite all the recent research and new understanding of the critical role of the retina, 20/20 central eyesight is still considered as the criteria for prescribing an eyeglass. Testing blocks off peripheral receptors, even though the heart rate and other body functions are connected to peripheral processing. Looking at an object clearly and directly is the slowest pathway for information processing and only activated when conscious attention is placed on a specific target. This classic, image-forming eyesight pathway is not even present in newborn infants; it develops later, within a few months of age, after other retinal pathways are already in place. Most eye examinations evaluate 20/20 eyesight capability by having a patient sit in a darkened room, looking straight ahead at a lighted, non-moving target. This testing method was developed in the 1862 as a way of standardizing eye exams. The 20/20 measurement isn’t taking into account the relationship between attention and awareness, which are different and used as a team. When we are driving, we are subconsciously “aware” of vehicles around us but not necessarily focused on them. We may be reading highway signs or quickly checking the computer screen or the speedometer on our dashboard. In those moments, we are receiving signals from many directions, both subconsciously and consciously. Our brains are making sense of all of this information. The testing of visual fields during a typical eye examination seems to assess peripheral eyesight. However, that test is performed mainly at a conscious level. Someone asks if we “see” a flash in the periphery or not. To do the peripheral testing during the 20th century eye examination, conscious attention is shifted to the periphery. In life, most peripheral awareness occurs at a subconscious level while attention is on something else. Testing needs to be modified!
Prolonged stress, shock, injury, or disease can affect spatial awareness, thereby impacting a person’s behavior, perceptions, and responses to environmental changes. For people suffering from PTSD, this shift in spatial awareness can be dramatic and oftentimes leads to abnormal brain and nerve activity. A common, compensatory mechanism to sensory overload is simply to ignore external environmental stimuli. The mind usually can tune out unwanted peripheral or background auditory and visual signals
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