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VISUAL SNOW Survey Results, Physiology & Path Forward

Access slides: http://sightresearch.net/ppt/VS.ppt. VISUAL SNOW Survey Results, Physiology & Path Forward. James T. Fulton NEURAL CONCEPTS jtfulton@neuronresearch.net. MY BACKGROUND. 25 Yrs in Aerospace-retired Division Mgr. 25 Yrs in Neuroscience-indep. Investigator

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VISUAL SNOW Survey Results, Physiology & Path Forward

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  1. Access slides: http://sightresearch.net/ppt/VS.ppt VISUAL SNOW Survey Results, Physiology & Path Forward James T. Fulton NEURAL CONCEPTS jtfulton@neuronresearch.net The Visual Snow Conference Mission Bay, UCSF

  2. MY BACKGROUND • 25 Yrs in Aerospace-retired Division Mgr. • 25 Yrs in Neuroscience-indep. Investigator • Published in many Neuroscience areas • Biological Vision: A 21st Century Tutorial 2004 • Processes in Biological Vision 2006 online • Hearing: A 21st Century Paradigm 2008 • Processes in Biological Hearing 2008 online • The Neuron and Neural System 2012 online • Taste (Sec. 8.5), Smell (Sec. 8.6)

  3. VISUAL SNOW Presentation Outline • Terminology • Physiology • Earlier Survey Results • Working Prognosis • New VISUAL SNOW survey • Conclusions

  4. VISUAL SNOW What are we talking about? • Noise~fct(1/f) indep. of freq. fct(f) • Popcorn noise White noise Pink • gray matter white mat.

  5. Detail of White Noise • Note large “Flakes” • They are missing from Pink noise

  6. TERMINOLOGY • Idiopathic disease-“The cause is unknown” • Organic vs Psychotic Disease • Voxel—Minimum element size in imaging • Applies to CAT, PET & fMRI medical imaging • A factor of at least 5000 larger than VS source • Thalamic Arrhythmia- • Adjective thalamic; OK, one potential source • Noun arrhythmia is probably inappropriate

  7. TOP LEVEL STAGES OF VISION Afferent stages on left, 0 to 5, are our focus today Evidence suggests VS arises in Stage 4 or 5

  8. Complex Paths for Visual Information • Loss in either signal path would be clear

  9. TERMINOLOGY • Syndrome vs Symptom vs distinct disease • Blue sky phenomenon • Floaters • Blood corpuscles in arteriola • Scattered dots across visual field-popcorn • TV like blotchy field of vision- white noise • Fuzzyness across field of vision-pink noise • Tie to tinnitus

  10. “Floaters” come in 3 forms • Solid black dots—blood leak near retina • Squiggly dots moving rapidly-normal blood • Transparent shapes—dust on cornea

  11. White Blood Cells? Worst Case

  12. Block Diag.—MultiplePaths

  13. Block Diag.—MultiplePaths--Annotated

  14. If noise is perceived as uniform across field? It cannot originate in one hemisphere or quadrant of the brain!

  15. Statistical Analysis of Earlier VS Survey • About 150 respondents world-wide • ~ 3% suffered from birth • Usually recognized by Mother at 4-5 years old • ~ 30% onset between 18 & 30 years old • ~ 30% onset after recreational drug use • ~10% following prescription drug use • Most likely antibiotics of –mycin or –cillin families • ~10% seriously debilitating • Most patients find it a major annoyance

  16. Most Relevant & Precise Case • A. M. 7 year old girl • Acute (sudden) onset (19 Jan. 2018) • No recent trauma • Amoxicillin for ten days (2 weeks before onset) • 7.5 milliliters (ml)/ 2X a day • Had taken it before without any consequences • Colored snow- - popcorn noise type—full field • “Snow disappears watching TV”

  17. Academic Analysis of Earlier VS Survey • Most office diagnoses are incomplete • General Practitioners see only one case of VS/career • Most Ophthalmologists are unfamiliar with VS • Typical neurologists has seldom seen VS • Medical imaging has inadequate resolution • Typical voxel, PET, CAT or fMRI-4 to 8 million neurons • Cause of VS probably involves 100 or less neurons • Probable cause– Change in porosity of Thalamus • Resulting in changes in electrical bias of a few neurons

  18. Additional elements missing from textbooks The PGN/Pulvinar couple is as important as the LGN/occipital couple Area 7 is the parietal lobe at the top of the brain

  19. Path Forward • Visual Snow not progressive/degenerate • Only one case in my files of intermittancy • Cure may depend on innovative research • Probably beyond MRI, CAT & PET imaging • Innovative research requires funding • Funding requires organization & dedication • Funding also requires good statistics

  20. Follow-up discussions • At the end of the morning session • During meet & greet this afternoon • Please consider taking new VS Survey • http://sightresearch.net/VSsurvey • Otherwise contact at your convenience • jtfulton@sightresearch.net • Video of Conference on Conf. website • http://www.visualsnowconference.com

  21. Block Diag.—Multiple Paths • Loss of one path would be obvious to user

  22. How Vision Operates

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