The visual system occupies over 30% of the brains mass and is the only sense that has an entire lobe dedicated to its functional processing called the occipital lobe.
Enhancing the Visual System
One of most interesting client programs I’ve put together was for a gentlemen who had fallen off a ladder, hitting the back of his head where the occipital lobe resides. The concussion had affected his visual system and his drivers license was suspended until he was able to pass the eye exam. Since the eyes are muscles, they will respond to specialized training so in addition to balance and coordination exercises our sessions included eye tracking activities such as Brock Strings and Pencil Push ups (research) to help with convergence. I was fortunate to receive guidance from optometrist Dr. Lynda Myles when it came to evaluating the client’s progress. After 3 months of training, the gentlemen passed his eye exam and got his license back.
Complete as many pencil push ups in 2 minutes as possible. Go!
Visual spatial skills start with the mechanical functions of the eyes (convergence, scanning and jumping) to send information to the visual system then hands over the responsibility of recognizing and organizing the information (high order functions) to other parts of the brain.
Try these extremely addicting visual spatial puzzles called Tangrams.
answers to yesterday’s sound quiz
1)F 2)J 3)E 4)N 5)i 6)K 7)M 8)C 9)A 10)H 11)D 12)G 13)B 14)L 15)Q 16)P 17)O