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Brain and Occipital Lobe
12017-11-18T19:21:34-08:00Rohit Balajid589b3144facf9fa402ed84fb098ec5957f3a9de253261Picture of the Brain Matthew Hoffman, MDplain2017-11-18T19:21:34-08:00Rohit Balajid589b3144facf9fa402ed84fb098ec5957f3a9de
12017-11-13T09:26:27-08:00A Description of Cerebral Achromatopsia15image_header2017-11-19T22:01:01-08:00Colorblindness itself manifests in many different forms. One of the rarest forms of colorblindness is Cerebral Achromatopsia. This particular form of colorblindness only occurs when there is damage to the ventromedial occipital area of the cerebral cortex. The occipital lobe in the back of the brain plays a crucial role in human vision. Severe damage to this region of the brain can often result in blindness. In this particular case, trauma to the occipital lobe results in the patient losing all color experience from their senses. Those who suffer from this report that they have no difficulty identifying details and seeing movement and depth. However, they report that the world seems to present itself in shades of gray or brown.
Unfortunately, not only does the condition wipe out the ability to see any colors in the world but it also seems to wipe an individuals ability to recall the colors of simple objects. This is a task that is achieved in most humans by "imagining the relevant object in color" (Bartolomeo, 1998). However, in individuals with cerebral achromatopsia, the ability to even recall colors is lost so they are unable to give specific colors to the objects they see, regardless of if they have seen it in the past or not (Bartolomeo, 1998).
Currently, there is no known treatment for this condition so patients with it simply tend to learn to adapt their lives to become a life in black and white.
