As we learn about the brain in Lesson 3, the brain, and Perception and two processing streams became very interesting to learn about.  As an infant, my mother and I were in a car accident that could have taken my life.  I was two months old at the time, but the impact of that accident has changed my life.  I’m writing about perception and two processing streams because of how this topic related to processing information.  This topic touches on how we process information, and how different situations may change how we might understand that information.

After the accident occurred, I was flown to the hospital, where my parents were given little hope.  By a miracle, I pulled through.  I had to undergo therapy and a couple eye surgeries to undo what the accident had caused.  My eye muscle had become weak, and processing information took more time.  As I entered school, it became clear that I had more damage to my brain than what my parents knew.  The doctor told my parents I would have trouble with depth perception.  It took longer for me to learn to read.  When it came to learning, I understood everything, but it took me longer than other children.  I was diagnosed with a learning disability, but never the less I wanted to prove the disability wrong.

In lesson 3 it talks about two processing streams in the brain.  One of the streams is being able to perceive objects and the other stream is being able to locate that particular object.  I found this interesting because where the Dorsal stream is on the figure in our notes where “how / where” highlighted, that is where I encountered the damage from the accident.  Learning to read, for example, took longer for me to understand.  I would understand what I was looking at in the book, but it took me longer retrieve the information back if I came across it again on another page.  At the same time I was still healing as my brain and skull continued to grow in size.  My brain and my bones were trying to play catch up with each other.

As referred to in the notes, D.F. had damage to her temporal lobe.  It’s different for her to undergo the tasks, because of the damage to the lobe.  Doctors were able to uncover the affected areas of her brain.  After performing the task of putting the mail in the mail slots, doctors could see where her brain was telling her different information than that of an unaffected individual’s brain.  Making this task seen as harder, difficult or just different for D.F. than other individuals. (Notes Lesson 3.)  I feel that even though my brain has weakened areas, like D.F., I am still able to perform tasks given to me, but it might require a different method or pattern for me to complete the task.

In conclusion, even though parts of the brain have been affected by the outside environment, doesn’t mean that the individual isn’t like everyone else.  It may take them longer to understand something, or it might take them longer to perform a task, but they are still able to complete what is given to them.  The brain has a way of compensating for a loss and finding a way to work around it.  Even though there was damage to parts of my brain, I still have the Dorsal and Ventral stream assisting with the “how/where” and “what” when it comes to understanding information in front of me.  Thankfully, with the help of doctors and the brain recovering and compensating for losses, we are able to move forward and learn from what we know.

References

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology.  Lesson 3.  Perception.  Two Processing Streams.