Visual Migraines

[Frank Wimberly-2]

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

Frank

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[Stephen Guerin-5]

Frank,

Sorry you're experiencing migraines - no fun! On the upside, the mathematician in you may appreciate the opportunity of direct observation of potentially interesting feedback phenomena.

Jack Cowan, one of Stu's mentors, gave a nice talk at BioGroups back in 2001 on geometric patterns during hallucination due to instabilities driving the feedback structures of the visual cortex. Jack had a couple papers paper was with Paul Bressloff. Utah Math Department (https://www.math.utah.edu/~bresslof/) Marty Golubitsky, co-author with Ian Stewart of Fearful Symmetry, and Peter Thomas Case Western

paper here: https://www.math.uh.edu/~dynamics/reprints/papers/nc.pdf. related paper here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rstb.2000.0769

What geometric visual hallucinations tell us about the visual cortex

Paul C. Bressloff, Jack D. Cowan*, Martin Golubitsky, Peter J. Thomas and Matthew C. Wiener

ABSTRACT: 

Geometric visual hallucinations are seen by many observers after taking hal- lucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline or psilocybin, on viewing bright flickering lights, on waking up or falling asleep, in “near death” experiences, and in many other syndromes. Klu ̈ver organized the images into four groups called “form constants”: (1) tunnels and funnels, (2) spirals, (3) lattices, including honeycombs and triangles, and (4) cobwebs. In general the images do not move with the eyes. We interpret this to mean that they are generated in the brain. Here we present a theory of their origin in visual cortex (area V1), based on the assumption that the form of the retino-cortical map and the architecture of V1 determine their geometry. We model V1 as the continuum limit of a lattice of interconnected hypercolumns, each of which itself comprises a number of interconnected iso-orientation columns. Based on anatomical evidence we assume that the lateral connectivity between hypercolumns exhibits symmetries rendering it invariant under the action of the Euclidean group E(2), composed of reflections and translations in the plane, and a (novel) shift–twist action. Using this symmetry, we show that the various patterns of activity that spontaneously emerge when V1’s spatially uniform resting state becomes unstable, correspond to the form constants when transformed to the visual field using the retino–cortical map. The results are sensitive to the detailed specification of the lateral connectivity and suggest that the cortical mechanisms which generate geometric visual hallucinations are closely related to those used to process edges, contours, textures and surfaces.

On Mon, May 6, 2019 at 1:39 PM Frank Wimberly <[hidden email]> wrote:

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

Frank

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone [phone]

============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Frank Wimberly-2]

Fascinating.  Thanks, Stephen.  That seems exactly on point.  I experience number 3.

Incidentally, I appreciate your sympathy.  Fortunately, I experience no pain with these hallucinations.

Frank

On Mon, May 6, 2019, 3:44 PM Stephen Guerin <[hidden email]> wrote:

Frank,

Sorry you're experiencing migraines - no fun! On the upside, the mathematician in you may appreciate the opportunity of direct observation of potentially interesting feedback phenomena.

Jack Cowan, one of Stu's mentors, gave a nice talk at BioGroups back in 2001 on geometric patterns during hallucination due to instabilities driving the feedback structures of the visual cortex. Jack had a couple papers paper was with Paul Bressloff. Utah Math Department (https://www.math.utah.edu/~bresslof/) Marty Golubitsky, co-author with Ian Stewart of Fearful Symmetry, and Peter Thomas Case Western

paper here: https://www.math.uh.edu/~dynamics/reprints/papers/nc.pdf. related paper here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rstb.2000.0769

What geometric visual hallucinations tell us about the visual cortex

Paul C. Bressloff, Jack D. Cowan*, Martin Golubitsky, Peter J. Thomas and Matthew C. Wiener

ABSTRACT: 

Geometric visual hallucinations are seen by many observers after taking hal- lucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline or psilocybin, on viewing bright flickering lights, on waking up or falling asleep, in “near death” experiences, and in many other syndromes. Klu ̈ver organized the images into four groups called “form constants”: (1) tunnels and funnels, (2) spirals, (3) lattices, including honeycombs and triangles, and (4) cobwebs. In general the images do not move with the eyes. We interpret this to mean that they are generated in the brain. Here we present a theory of their origin in visual cortex (area V1), based on the assumption that the form of the retino-cortical map and the architecture of V1 determine their geometry. We model V1 as the continuum limit of a lattice of interconnected hypercolumns, each of which itself comprises a number of interconnected iso-orientation columns. Based on anatomical evidence we assume that the lateral connectivity between hypercolumns exhibits symmetries rendering it invariant under the action of the Euclidean group E(2), composed of reflections and translations in the plane, and a (novel) shift–twist action. Using this symmetry, we show that the various patterns of activity that spontaneously emerge when V1’s spatially uniform resting state becomes unstable, correspond to the form constants when transformed to the visual field using the retino–cortical map. The results are sensitive to the detailed specification of the lateral connectivity and suggest that the cortical mechanisms which generate geometric visual hallucinations are closely related to those used to process edges, contours, textures and surfaces.

On Mon, May 6, 2019 at 1:39 PM Frank Wimberly <[hidden email]> wrote:

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

Frank

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone [phone]

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
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FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Jochen Fromm-5]

I guess Stu means Stuart Kauffman? He is 79 years old already but has written another book about the emergence and evolution of life called "A world beyond physics"

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-world-beyond-physics-9780190871338?cc=de&lang=en

Not sure if this fits to the subject "Visual Migraines" :-/ Get well soon Frank.

-Jochen

-------- Original message --------

From: Stephen Guerin <[hidden email]>

Date: 5/6/19 23:43 (GMT+01:00)

To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Visual Migraines

Frank,

Sorry you're experiencing migraines - no fun! On the upside, the mathematician in you may appreciate the opportunity of direct observation of potentially interesting feedback phenomena.

Jack Cowan, one of Stu's mentors, gave a nice talk at BioGroups back in 2001 on geometric patterns during hallucination due to instabilities driving the feedback structures of the visual cortex. Jack had a couple papers paper was with Paul Bressloff. Utah Math Department (https://www.math.utah.edu/~bresslof/) Marty Golubitsky, co-author with Ian Stewart of Fearful Symmetry, and Peter Thomas Case Western

paper here: https://www.math.uh.edu/~dynamics/reprints/papers/nc.pdf. related paper here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rstb.2000.0769

What geometric visual hallucinations tell us about the visual cortex

Paul C. Bressloff, Jack D. Cowan*, Martin Golubitsky, Peter J. Thomas and Matthew C. Wiener

ABSTRACT: 

Geometric visual hallucinations are seen by many observers after taking hal- lucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline or psilocybin, on viewing bright flickering lights, on waking up or falling asleep, in “near death” experiences, and in many other syndromes. Klu ̈ver organized the images into four groups called “form constants”: (1) tunnels and funnels, (2) spirals, (3) lattices, including honeycombs and triangles, and (4) cobwebs. In general the images do not move with the eyes. We interpret this to mean that they are generated in the brain. Here we present a theory of their origin in visual cortex (area V1), based on the assumption that the form of the retino-cortical map and the architecture of V1 determine their geometry. We model V1 as the continuum limit of a lattice of interconnected hypercolumns, each of which itself comprises a number of interconnected iso-orientation columns. Based on anatomical evidence we assume that the lateral connectivity between hypercolumns exhibits symmetries rendering it invariant under the action of the Euclidean group E(2), composed of reflections and translations in the plane, and a (novel) shift–twist action. Using this symmetry, we show that the various patterns of activity that spontaneously emerge when V1’s spatially uniform resting state becomes unstable, correspond to the form constants when transformed to the visual field using the retino–cortical map. The results are sensitive to the detailed specification of the lateral connectivity and suggest that the cortical mechanisms which generate geometric visual hallucinations are closely related to those used to process edges, contours, textures and surfaces.

On Mon, May 6, 2019 at 1:39 PM Frank Wimberly <[hidden email]> wrote:

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

Frank

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone [phone]

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Nick Thompson]

I think this makes you a “glop-monist”.  It’s glop, and glop-relations all the way down.

 

N

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Frank Wimberly
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2019 1:39 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: [FRIAM] Visual Migraines

 

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

 

Frank

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone [phone]

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Barry MacKichan]

The first time I had one of these, I had just heard some horror stories about detached retinas. I made an emergency trip to our ophthalmologist, who reassured me and then said it was really a circulatory problem, and not a retinal problem. So I left we one worry replaced by another.

I don’t perceive any geometric patterns, though. Mine are more like amoebae who have rolled in glitter.

--Barry

On 6 May 2019, at 15:39, Frank Wimberly wrote:

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

Frank

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Nick Thompson]

Ohhhhh. Amoebae.   Mine are scintillating fortresses.  N

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Barry MacKichan
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2019 1:49 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Visual Migraines

 

The first time I had one of these, I had just heard some horror stories about detached retinas. I made an emergency trip to our ophthalmologist, who reassured me and then said it was really a circulatory problem, and not a retinal problem. So I left we one worry replaced by another.

I don’t perceive any geometric patterns, though. Mine are more like amoebae who have rolled in glitter.

--Barry

On 6 May 2019, at 15:39, Frank Wimberly wrote:

Also called optical migraines.  I experience them as perfect, complex, geometric patterns which scintillate and exhibit various colors.  How does that come about from the glop that is my brain or retina or whatever?  It's all glop.

 

Frank

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone [phone]

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove