Strange disease makes blind women see only moving objects

Scientists finally discovered the reason why a blind woman in Scotland could only see her daughter's ponytail fluttering as she walked, but could not see her face.

Milena Canning in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, was blinded after a severe stroke and almost lost her life nearly two decades ago. However, one particular thing about this 48-year-old woman is that she can still see objects, but only when they are moving. This has confounded the scientific community for many years.

Recently, Cananda scientists have identified the causes of abnormalities that Milena Canning experienced. They found that the back of the brain of Milena Canning lacks an apple-sized piece of tissue, located in an important area responsible for processing visual images.

Milena Canning took pictures with her daughter.(Photo: Cascadenews.co.uk).

18 years ago, Canning lost her eyesight after a respiratory infection and underwent a series of strokes. This situation made it almost impossible for her to survive and it took two months to recover gradually.

A few months later, the woman was blinded after an eight-week coma. Once, Canning was extremely surprised when a blue light flashed from the glittering gift bag.

At first the doctors did not believe it and thought it was her imagination from what she had seen before. Unable to find the cause of visual problems of Ms. Canning, the medical secretary asked the family to seek an eye specialist.

Later, Ms. Canning was introduced to Professor Gordon Dutton, a working expert at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow. Here, she was initially diagnosed with blindness but had a rare ability similar to the 6th sense to help see next to moving objects.

Professor Dutton took her to the Brain Research Institute of Western University in London, Canada. Here, researchers led by Professor Jody Culham conducted tests that included an MRI scan to check the structure and operation of Mrs. Canning's brain.

Brain scans show that Ms. Canning lacks a piece of apple-sized brain tissue behind the brain.(Picture in the magazine Neuropscyhologia)

They determined she had a rare phenomenon of Riddoch syndrome - a form of blindness but the blind still saw moving objects, but if the object stood still, it could not be seen.

Talking about his research, Professor Culham said: 'This is perhaps the most feature-rich study ever conducted on a patient's visual system. The patient lacks a piece of apple-sized brain tissue behind the brain - almost the entire occipital lobe, where vision is processed. '

'In Mrs. Canning's case, the "main road" of the visual system is almost ineffective. However, instead of completely losing sight, she developed a number of "extra paths" to help look at the moving objects and be sent to other parts of the brain. '

In essence, Mrs. Canning's brain is developing unexpected, unique rings around the damaged road.

In the study published in the medical journal Neuropscyhologia, Ms. Canning was able to recognize the movement, direction, size and speed of the ball rolling towards her. She can also use her hands to open, block and grab them in time. She can move around the chair.

'Everything I see is not like a normal person or what I have seen before. It was strange, ' Ms. Canning said, adding that something was happening in her brain, like it was reprogramming or trying different paths.

This study shows the magic of the human brain in recovering and developing special abilities after a serious injury. And it also shows a different concept of blindness and visual ability than previous definitions.