Blindsight or weirdsight?
Axel Cleeremans, Morten Overgaard
Cerebral Cortex September 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhag144 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that damage to primary visual cortex may produce not just reduced vision but a differently organized form of visual engagement with the environment, and proposes that fine-grained saccade phenotyping can reveal how post-lesional vision is reorganized, not merely how much function remains. |
Abstract
We welcome Sepe et al'.s careful study of the visual capacities of the macaque in the early period that follows a lesion to primary visual cortex. Blindsight is a central phenomenon in the study of consciousness, for its existence suggests the possibility of unconscious vision, an inference that remains controversial. Here, we suggest that damage to visual cortex may produce not just less vision, but rather a different kind of visual engagement with the environment. Fine-grained saccade phenotyping offers clues not only to how much function remains, but to how post-lesional vision is differently organized.