Vision

I feel truly at peace when painting or creating an unique piece of artwork. Recently, I've been obsessive over colors and shifting away from the localized colors when painting an otherwise realistic piece. Instead of restricting my choices- like one would think- I feel freer to experiment and add my personalized touch rather than focus on recreating a photograph. After all, that is what a camera is for. Recognizing color and the beautiful compositions that can be created just by shifting the color scheme or staying monochromatic completely grasps hold of the creativity that is so deeply desired.

Since I have been really focused on colors when painting, I have grown a different sense of appreciation for sight. We walk through our lives without really noticing the perfection that is presented before us, amongst the vivid colors that surround us. Painting really puts that idea into perspective.

Contemplating color and its effect on everyday life led me to question color within dreams. I mean I did discuss the actual content of dreams being in color but never the quality of that specific color. I was under the assumption that dreams contained the similar nature of color as when we're actually awake. But revisiting that question, I came to the realization that this cannot be a rational thought. Think about it, your eyes are closed when dreaming and so it's not possible to perceive color the same way in waking hours and in dreams.

When viewing things with our eyes, the primary visual cortex is utilized. The visual cortex is located in the back portion of the brain's occipital lobe. However, when dreaming, this primary visual cortex is unable to function for the obvious reason- the eyes are closed. Since the primary visual cortex is "out of order," the secondary visual cortex is the one resuming its work. And that's where the differences begin.

The secondary visual cortex is vastly different from the primary one. It has more of an attentional modulation, which simply means that it's more focused on complex patterns and deals with multiple orientations. The cells of the secondary visual cortex processes ore complex images and colors. This actually is very important in showing just why dreams can sometimes seem so surreal and strange.

Now that might just seem like a bunch of technicalities that have zero genuine substance. That couldn't be further from the truth, though. This idea completely baffled me- so much so that I had to stop what I was doing at the moment and just think about how insane it is. The idea I am describing is one that shows that colors are very different in our dreams than the ones we see with our eyes.

The primary visual cortex uses color constancy while the secondary does not. Color constancy is what happens due to the effect of light of any kind on certain colors; in order to keep a certain apple red under any kind of light, our brain uses color constancy so as to not suffocate our visual senses. When dreaming, this color constancy is not in affect since there is no infiltration of light or their influences- since our eyes are closed. But we still have to make sense of the images our brain is conjuring up, and thus begins the activation of the secondary cortex.

Does that not completely change everything we thought we knew about dreams, though? We can't even imagine the colors that we do see in our dreams, and yet somehow we still believe it's the same set of colors. Then, does that not also engender the question of if the "pure" colors are the ones we see in our dreams under the influence of the secondary cortex? Asking and answering these questions captures the true potential of dream research.