Conclusion/Coda

This Conclusion/Coda summarizes the book’s key argument: the postscreen as a visual phenomenon which, through contemporary instantiations via Virtual Reality, holographic and light projections, blurs boundaries between virtuality and actuality, and re-formulates conditions of media, reality, death, life, matter and history. The Conclusion also points the post-screen towards two further ideas which drive its concept: difference, in terms of screen boundaries demarcating image against surroundings, and on difference without positive terms; and gluttony of visual media, specifically in relation to play between the real and the unreal. Both ideas not only serve the diminished boundaries of the post-screen in terms of the book’s analyses, but also render the post-screen a framework for today’s politics of post-truth, misinformation and deepfakes as a moment of media history. Finally, the Conclusion extends the post-screen to the (as of writing) current Covid-19 pandemic as a mirror of the internalization that is of both post-screen media and virus – both are in us, and inescapable.

Acoustics and Resonance in Poetry: The Psychological Reality of Rhyme in Baudelaire’s “Les Chats”

This article uses the term “psychological reality” in this sense: the extent to which the constructs of linguistic theory can be taken to have a basis in the human mind, i.e., to somehow be reflected in human cognitive structures. This article explores the human cognitive structures in which the constructs of phonetic theory may be reflected. The last section is a critique of the psychological reality of sound patterns in Baudelaire’s “Les Chats”, as discussed in three earlier articles. In physical terms, it defines “resonant” as “tending to reinforce or prolong sounds, especially by synchronous vibration”. In phonetic terms it defines “resonant” as “where intense precategorical auditory information lingers in short-term memory”. The effect of rhyme in poetry is carried by similar overtones vibrating in the rhyme fellows, resonating like similar overtones on the piano. In either case, we do not compare overtones item by item, just hear their synchronous vibration. I contrast this conception to three approaches: one that points out similar sounds of “internal rhymes”, irrespective of whether they may be contained within the span of short-term memory (i.e., whether they may have psychological relit); one that claims that syntactic complexity may cancel the psychological reality of “internal rhymes” (whereas I claim that it merely backgrounds rhyme); and one that found through an eye-tracking experiment that readers fixate longer on verse-final rhymes than on other words, assuming regressive eye-movement (I claim that rhyme is an acoustic not visual phenomenon; and that there is a tendency to indicate discontinuation by prolonging the last sounds in ordinary speech and blank verse too, as well as in music — where no rhyme is involved).

Oscillopsia following orbitotomy for intracranial tumor resection

Background: Oscillopsia is a visual phenomenon in which an individual perceives that their environment is moving when it is in fact stationary. In this report, we describe two patients with pulsatile oscillopsia following orbitocranial approaches for skull base meningioma resection. Case Description: Two patients, both 42-year-old women, underwent orbitocranial approaches for resection of a right sphenoid wing (Patient 1) and left cavernous sinus (Patient 2) meningioma. Patient 1 underwent uncomplicated resection and was discharged home without neurologic or visual complaints; she presented 8 days later with pulsatile oscillopsia. This was managed expectantly, and MRA revealed no evidence of vascular pathology. She has not required intervention as of most recent follow-up. Patient 2 developed trochlear and trigeminal nerve palsies following resection and developed pulsatile oscillopsia 4 months postoperatively. After patching and corrective lens application, the patient’s symptoms had improved by 26 months postoperatively. Conclusion: Oscillopsia is a potential complication following skull base tumor resection about which patients should be aware. Patients may improve with conservative management alone, although the literature describes repair of orbital defects for ocular pulsations in traumatic and with some developmental conditions.

Transient Visual Disturbance is Associated with Disability and Suicidal Risk in Patients with Migraine Without Aura

Background: Patients with migraine without aura frequently report transient visual disturbances (TVD) other than typical visual aura, but the clinical correlates are not determined. Method: Patients with migraine without aura (MO) that attended the headache clinic were enrolled. Structured questionnaires were self-administered by the patients including headache profiles, comorbidities, lifetime suicidal ideation and attempts, six-item Headache Impact Test, Migraine Photophobia Score, Migraine Disability Assessment, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. A semi-structured visual phenomenon questionnaire was also used to assess the characteristics of TVDs. TVD is defined as any zigzag flashes, flickering dots/lines, or blurred/foggy vision associated with headache and with a Visual Aura Rating Scale < 4. Headache specialists interviewed with the participants for the ascertainment of diagnosis and verified of the questionnaires.Result: MO patients (n = 7,200, female/male = 3.56, mean age: 40.1 ± 13.4 years) were divided into 2 subgroups based on the presence (n=2,488) or absence of TVDs (n= 4,712). Patients with TVD had higher headache-related disability, more psychiatric comorbidities and were more likely to be photophobic. Suicidal ideation and attempts were more common in patients with TVD than in those without (ideation: 31.9% vs. 18.1%, OR = 1.92 [95% CI: 1.71−2.15], p < 0.001; attempt: 8.2% vs. 3.5%, OR = 2.23 [95% CI: 1.80−2.75], p < 0.001). The associations remained after adjustment of confounding factors.Conclusion: Presence of transient visual disturbance may suggest a higher migraine-related disability, higher level of photophobia and higher suicidal ideation/attempts in MO patients.

Multisensory Effects on Illusory Self-Motion (Vection): the Role of Visual, Auditory, and Tactile Cues

A critical component to many immersive experiences in virtual reality (VR) is vection, defined as the illusion of self-motion. Traditionally, vection has been described as a visual phenomenon, but more recent research suggests that vection can be influenced by a variety of senses. The goal of the present study was to investigate the role of multisensory cues on vection by manipulating the availability of visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli in a VR setting. To achieve this, 24 adults (Mage = 25.04) were presented with a rotating stimulus aimed to induce circular vection. All participants completed trials that included a single sensory cue, a combination of two cues, or all three cues presented together. The size of the field of view (FOV) was manipulated across four levels (no-visuals, small, medium, full). Participants rated vection intensity and duration verbally after each trial. Results showed that all three sensory cues induced vection when presented in isolation, with visual cues eliciting the highest intensity and longest duration. The presence of auditory and tactile cues further increased vection intensity and duration compared to conditions where these cues were not presented. These findings support the idea that vection can be induced via multiple types of sensory inputs and can be intensified when multiple sensory inputs are combined.

Art, Aesthetics and the Dynamics of Visuality in Ezekiel 23

This essay explores Ezekiel 23 as a text about art and aesthetics. As an aesthetic response to an artistic endeavour, it argues that the description of Oholibah’s act of viewing must be placed within the context of strategies for verbalizing visual phenomenon in biblical literature. And as a work of art, the carved Chaldean officers must be understood within larger ancient Near Eastern artistic conventions. The convergence of these distinct but related focuses allows us to reassess Oholibah’s act of viewing art and its role in Ezekiel 23.

Cone mitochondria act as microlenses to enhance light delivery and confer Stiles-Crawford-like direction sensitivity

Sensory systems that efficiently transduce physical energy into neural signaling are advantageous for survival. The vertebrate retina poses a challenge to such efficiency, featuring an inverted structure with multiple neural layers through which photons must pass, risking premature absorption or scattering. Moreover, mammalian photoceptors aggregate an unusual amount of mitochondria in the ellipsoid region immediately before the light-sensitive outer segments (OS). While these mitochondria are required to support the high metabolic demands of phototransduction, it is yet unknown their impact on light transmission. Here we demonstrate via direct live-imaging and computational modeling that such tightly packed mitochondria concentrate light to enter the OS for detection. Intriguingly, this “microlens”-like feature of cone mitochondria delivers light with an angular dependence akin to the Stiles-Crawford effect, an essential visual phenomenon that improves resolution. We thus establish an unconventional optical function for cone mitochondria, energy-producing organelles, providing insight into their role in the interpretation of noninvasive optical tools for vision research and ophthalmology clinics.

Pixelated vision: Validation of the complaint with no objective findings

Background: We encountered a young female presenting with a complaint of “pixelated vision”. A brief literature search at the time of consultation showed no peer reviewed publications. Our objective was to use an infodemiologic approach to investigate the possible occurrence of an unidentified visual phenomenon.Methods: An Internet search with the metabrowser search engine Dogpile (www.dogpile.com) was conducted on April 24, 2018, using free text words “pixelated” and “vision.” The first 100 results were scanned for forum posts and cross-referenced to minimize duplication.Results: Of the first 100 results, 15 unique posts were identified. The majority of posts were made by the affected individual (n=14, 93%). Sex was female (n=5, 33%), male (n=2, 13%) or unknown (n=8, 53%). Onset was identified as new (n=10, 67%) or chronic (n=5, 33%).Conclusion: The availability and content of these forum postings suggest that pixelated vision is an uncommon, non-pathological visual phenomenon not yet documented in conventional medical literature.

Dependence of perceptual saccadic suppression on peri-saccadic image flow properties and luminance contrast polarity

Across saccades, perceptual detectability of brief visual stimuli is strongly diminished. We recently observed that this perceptual suppression phenomenon is jumpstarted in the retina, suggesting that the phenomenon might be significantly more visual in nature than normally acknowledged. Here, we explicitly compared saccadic suppression strength when saccades were made across a uniform image of constant luminance versus when saccades were made across image patches of different luminance, width, and trans-saccadic luminance polarity. We measured perceptual contrast thresholds of human subjects for brief peri-saccadic flashes of positive (luminance increments) or negative (luminance decrements) polarity. Perceptual thresholds were >6-7 times higher when saccades translated a luminance stripe or edge across the retina than when saccades were made over a completely uniform image patch. Critically, both background luminance and flash luminance polarity relative to the background strongly modulated peri-saccadic contrast thresholds. In addition, all of these very same visual dependencies also occurred in the absence of any saccades, but with qualitatively similar rapid translations of image patches across the retina. Our results support the notion that perceptual saccadic suppression may be fundamentally a visual phenomenon, and they motivate neurophysiological and theoretical investigations on the role of saccadic eye movement commands in modulating its properties.