Blindsight and Rage

JoRoss joross at
Mon Jul 26 00:14:13 EST 1999

Hi. I've got a couple questions, and I'm hoping you can help.  But I know
nothing about neuro-anything, and I'm afraid this is going to be like asking
for directions in a foreign language--when you get the answer, you don't
understand it.

Anyway, I'm a writer, looking for just a bit of truth with which to temper my
lies ... er, fiction. I don't even know if both these questions fall under the
neuroscience rubric, but here goes:

1 - Blindsight. I read a paragraph about this, and it looks like an interesting
hook for a story I'm working on. But I don't know: what causes it (stroke,
brain lesion--if there is such a thing--head trauma, etc.), if it can occur in
the complete visual field (I read about it on one side only), and how people
who have it deal with it. If I understand blindsight (probably not), it seems
that your subconscious (or unconscious) can see, but you cannot consciously
"see" what you're seeing--you are, effectively, blind. True, false? I don't
know if a low-level, speculative discussion is appropriate on this newsgroup
(please e-mail if not), but I'd love to know more.

2 - an entirely unrelated question. I'm looking for a causable (I guess through
some sort of poison or drug, but I'd love to hear other possibilities)
neurological event that would lead victims (as this would be the villain's evil
plan) to, basically, go berserk. Paranoia, rage--the worse it is, the better. I
know (well, I think I know), that this can happen with drugs--PCP, say--but I'm
looking for a longer term, and, hopefully, more violent, thing. Any ideas?

And if anyone's willing to have their, ahem, brain picked privately, please let
me know.

All the best, and thanks in advance,

More information about the Neur-sci mailing list