The picture above is one of those tricky
photos where different people see different
things. In this case some people see rectangles
and others see circles. What do you see? How
can we explain two people looking at the exact
same thing and seeing two different things? Well
it starts with the fact that there is no one exactly
like you. We are as different on the inside as we
are on the outside. That alone makes you
AMAZING! It also definitely helps explain why
two people could look at the same thing and see
different things. However, what about the same
person seeing different things?
Seeing depends on a variety of things. First, of
course is your eyeball—its size, its shape, its
age—all of that and more, make a big difference.
Then there are the different parts of your eye
that are used for vision. Light enters your eye
through an opening known as the pupil. This is
what appears as the black dot in the very center
of your eye. As light enters your eye, it hits a
lens that focuses it onto your retina in the back
of your eye. These parts work a lot like the
movie projector and the screen at the movies,
where the projector is the lens and the screen is
the retina.
Your retina is made up of millions of cells that
are sensitive to light called rods and cones. For
the record, you have about 120 million rods and
7 million cone cells in each eye!!! These special
cells take the light and change them into nerve
messages.
Other things matter as well, for example the
angle at which you are viewing an object.
Sometimes you may need to look straight on at
an object, other times you may need to look
from an angle. Sometimes how far away the
object is makes a difference and the closer you
move it, the image may change.
Next though, and equally important, is your
brain. That’s right… your brain! After light passes
through the individual parts of your eye and is
transformed into nerve messages, those
messages get sent along the optic nerve to your
brain where they are interpreted as objects. And
this is why even the same person can see
rectangles one time and circles the next. It might
seem like magic but it shows how AMAZING your
body is!
In this case, the above puzzle, known as the
Coffer illusion, also plays on the fact that your
brain is drawn to the hard edges so at first
glance, most people see rectangles. It’s also
possible that rectangles are more common in our
world than circles, so your brain is wired to see
one over the other.
Hint: if you are having trouble finding the circles,
look in between each rectangle at the vertical
lines.
Our unique eyes (and brains) determine not just
how WELL we see but also to some extent WHAT
we see. Especially important is the brain’s ability
to receive and interpret messages passed along
by the nerves. This is another great reason to
keep your nerve system functioning at its best,
and your family chiropractor is happy to help you
with that. Whatever you see, it makes sense to
see your chiropractor regularly to be your most
AMAZING self!!!
—By Judy Nutz Campanale, DC, ACP
