What is visual binding?

Answer:

“Certainly, you have two aspects of the visual process, as we discussed. The focal process wants to literally lock onto detail, and it says balance from the spatial process, which was developmentally the first process that was established in the hierarchy of our development. It’s this balance that constantly causes us not to jam down on just detail.

When that spatial process gets compromised from a concussion, whether it’s a trauma to the head, or whether it’s from a whiplash, what can occur is that it leaves the focal process without any type of balance, without any type of check and balance. So, the focal process knows no other way, other than to work harder, to try to achieve its goal. And when it works harder to try to achieve its goal, it literally becomes bound onto all aspects of detail, not just in your central site, but your whole world turns into detail. And if there’s movement of that detail, it becomes chaotic.

And that is what leads to many of the symptoms that people have when they go into a busy, crowded environment, such as they feel overwhelmed or overstimulated, and it also produces conditions of noise factors that they no longer can take what might be normal noise. Even the noise level seems to be increased.

It’s more than seeing. The spacial visual process is preconscious, not in the sense that you’re seeing now. So, as you look across the room and you see your visual field, you have to realize that that’s one visual process and what’s balancing out and causing you not to see the periphery as just a lot of detail is that the spatial process blends off this information, so that the focal process can concentrate through the fovea or macula area.

However, you can use the focal process in any portion of the field that you want. So, if I would hold my finger up like this and concentrate on my finger with my peripheral vision, that’s a focalization. We can do that, but it takes more energy to run focalization through the peripheral process.

So, it’ll diminish in its intensity as a detail on a few moments. It’s this balance that the spatial process always tries to maintain peripheral organization and provide the central focal process isolation for the point of fixation. And it’s the balance that enables release of the focalization to the next fixation point.”

RESOURCES & LINKS:

  • This Q&A is an excerpt from the Concussion Health Summit Sessions
  • The Concussion Health Summit Sessions are included with 360NeuroGO Enterprise

FACULTY:

William V. Padula, O

William V. Padula, OD is the Director of the Padula Institute of Vision Rehabilitation in Guilford, CT. He is the Founding President of the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA) and Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Practice Dr. Padula is an Associate Professor at Salus University of Health Sciences College of Optometry in Philadelphia, PA and is an Adjunct Professor at Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry in Los Angeles, CA. He is the Founding Chairperson of the American Optometric Association Vision Rehabilitation Section. Dr. Padula has been a consultant to the National Academy of Sciences Committee of Vision. Research has been conducted by Dr. Padula discovering Post Trauma Vision Syndrome (PTVS) and Visual Midline Shift Syndrome (VMSS). Dr. Padula also served as the National Consultant in Low Vision Services for the American Foundation for the Blind and Director of Vision Research to the Gesell Institute of Human Development.

Charlie Shearer, OD

Charlie Shearer, OD has been a nationally recognized leader in the areas of vision therapy, visually related learning problems and sports vision enhancement. He has worked with US Olympic athletes and teams, professional and amateur athletes, and coordinated national screening of both Special Olympics and Junior Olympics. Charlie is a leader in the field of instrumentation development as related to his role of Vision Science Consultant for Bertec Corporation, as well as his work with other companies. Charlie was born in Mishawaka, Indiana. He received his undergraduate and optometry degrees from Indiana University. When Charlie returned to Mishawaka, he resumed care of the patients of retiring Dr. Lou Fishman. Soon after, Charlie relocated his practice with Jonathan Kintner, OD.