October 19th
Posted under the assignments section, my October SDA successfully conveyed my understanding of refractive errors in the eye, as they are some of the most common issues faced, especially by children. While writing out my notes-style one-pager, I realized that a common point between all vision was the brain, which led me to wonder: What issues in the brain lead to vision loss/blurry sight?
Sub-Questions:
How/why are light signals turned into electric signals?
How does the brain work to help you see?
What causes these issues in the brain?
While researching for my October SDA, I learned more about refractive errors. I did not focus on this in my SDA, but the website I used included information on the optic nerve. It sends electric signals to the brain, converted from light signals by the retina. My new need-to-know opens a new realm of what would happen if something were to go wrong later in the process, in the brain, rather than early on, when light first enters the eye. In my first SDA, I included what light rays look like in a regular eye; similarly, I would want to know what it looks like in a healthy model when my brain is helping me see. I also wondered why the conversion of signals has to be there, as it seems to be a crucial step in getting information to the brain. Although much may not go wrong there, it would help to know how the brain works with the retina and optic nerve. If such issues arose, I would also look into what factors would cause that to happen. My interest was enhanced when I looked back at my other SDA source, Britanicca, to check for brain-related disorders. I haven't read them all, but the article mentioned a few. Although I used these two sources for my SDA, there is still much information I can gain using them, but I know I will need to find new sources for my next SDA, which will most likely have to do with the brain.