Scientist Say That Staring At This Optical Illusion Can Actually Improve Your Vision.

By Michael Avery in Science and Technology On 13th July 2017
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Scientists at the universities of Glasgow and York have found that your ability to read small print can be improved simply using optical illusions in what they call the "expanding motion effect." After staring at simple illusions, those tested could read small lettering that they previously could now. The condition of your eyes determines visual acuity but this study suggests that it can be influenced by how your brain perceives things as well. This is called the perceptual process. It describes the steps that your brain takes to interpret and organize the information you see. The expanding motion effect can make things appear much bigger than they really are.

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Dr. Robert Jenkins from York's psychology department and Martin Lages from Glasgow University wanted to find out if the motion effect could also be used to help people read the smaller print. To achieve this they used the logMAR eye chart. You often see this chart posted in your optometrist's office and it's used during eye exams. Over 70 people were asked to look at spiral illusions for 30 seconds. One went clockwise and the other went counter clockwise. They were then asked to try reading the chart. The test showed that some of the people could read the smaller letters much better afterward.

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#3

Those who looked at the clockwise image showed an improved ability to read fine print afterward, but those who looked at the counter clockwise image actually did worse than when they first tried the test. It's believed that the clockwise image looks like it's expanding as opposed to the counterclockwise image that looks like it's contracting.

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Dr. Jenkins says: "We were pretty impressed by the consistency of the effect. No matter how you break it down, by letter size, by letter position, the performance boost is there. And there was a correlation with initial ability; the harder people found the task, the more the illusion helped them.” Still, you shouldn't throw away your glasses just yet. The effects only last for a short time.

While the doctors continue to figure out ways to make your eye site better here are some natural eye exercises that you can use to improve your vision. You might even be able to ditch your glasses and improve nearsightedness, astigmatism and other vision issues.

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Palming

It's best to "palm" while sitting or lying on the floor, with your elbows propped on a cushioned surface. Close your eyes and then cover them with the palms of your hands, crossing the fingers of one hand over those of the other on your forehead. Don't, however, apply any pressure on the lids with your palms. Ideally, you'll "see" a field of intense blackness, which indicates a state of perfect relaxation. If instead, you witness illusions of light, bright color, or patches of gray, you're tense to some degree. However, don't concentrate on trying to "see" blackness, as the effort itself will produce strain. Rather, passively visualize a pleasant memory—one that helps ease your mind—while keeping your shoulders and neck relaxed. The more frequent and lengthy the periods of palming, the more likely you are to school your eyes to reduce muscle tension, with subsequent benefit to your vision.

Swinging

This whole-body exercise improves vision, relieves fatigue and stress, and increases the mobility of the eyes. Stand looking straight ahead, with your feet positioned about 12 inches apart. Now, rotate your body—head, trunk, and all—to the left, throwing your weight onto your left foot while you allow your right heel to rise from the floor. Keep your shoulders and neck straight. When you swing to the opposite side, shifting your weight to your other foot, your eyes will cover an arc of 180°. Absolutely no attempt should be made to focus your sight on anything. Just maintain an attitude of passive relaxation, making about 30 of these "arcs" per minute. You should do this exercise twice daily, completing the swing from side to side 100 times. By doing your swings right before bedtime, you'll prevent eyestrain from occurring during sleep.

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Blinking

Cultivate the habit of frequent, effortless blinking. This performs two vital functions: It lubricates and cleanses the eyes with tears, and it rests and relaxes the eye muscles.

Sunning

Although there's no scientific evidence available to prove that sunning helps vision, many people who have tried it testify to its benefits, particularly those whose eyes have become oversensitive to light. All sunning should only be done with the eyes closed. Sit or stand in the sunlight, face relaxed, and let the rays of the sun penetrate and ease the tension in your eyelids. This is a good way to start off the day, and even a few minutes will help. To avoid possible strain on your eyes, rotate your head slightly from side to side or move it as if you were using your nose to draw a circle around the sun, breathe deeply and don't squint.

Central Fixation

Central fixation refers to the fact that—since the central portion of the retina is the point of most acute vision—the eye sees only one small part of any object sharply, with all the other areas being slightly blurred. When you look at a thing, your eye shifts very rapidly over it to achieve the illusion of clearly seeing the entire object at once. To demonstrate this fact, look at an object, focusing on its topmost part. Without actually moving your focus downward, try to "see" the bottom of the object. You'll find that its lower details don't appear to be sharp. A problem-free eye shifts quite rapidly and unconsciously while it is observing. People with imperfect vision often try to see a large part of the visual field at once, all areas equally well simultaneously, without moving their eyes. This puts considerable strain on the eye, and also on the brain, the organ that actually has to integrate what you see. To correct this tendency, it's important to develop your central fixation by teaching your eyes that it's "acceptable" to see only one point clearly at a time. The orbs must learn to move and refocus rapidly, rather than straining to see an entire object at one sighting. You can do this by studying an eye chart, training yourself to look at the top of a letter on the chart while "accepting" an unfocused image of its bottom (and vice versa). When you can accomplish this easily, your eyes will be relaxed, and your vision will be improved.

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Shifting

Loss of vision is often realized in direct proportion to the loss of eye motion. Therefore, rapid eye-shifting is beneficial in all cases of visual difficulties, most notably, in nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and squint. In contrast to the last exercise, now force your eyes to make a series of small-scale shifts, consciously trying to sense and perceive the various sections of an object, without gazing fixedly at it to see all of its parts clearly at once. Actually, all of the exercises mentioned will—by relaxing the muscles and reducing strain—improve a person's eyesight, no matter what the particular affliction. However, there are a few more activities that can be done to improve vision, which focuses on several of the more common eye problems.

Preventive Measures for Sure Sight

Even if your vision is already 20/20, there are probably some activities in your life that could eventually affect the way you see if you don't take proper precautions. Reading books and watching television are two examples of potential eye strainers. When you read, try to sit in a relaxed position, holding your head upright. Keep the book parallel and at a comfortable distance from the eyes (generally 12 to 16 inches for most folks). Read each word in sequence, avoid staring, and blink at least once or twice while scanning each line. Use good lighting, but don't have it so bright that it causes a glare on the paper. Temporarily change your focus every few pages by pausing to glance about the room or to look out of a nearby window. Also, avoid reading when you're sick or very tired. When viewing television, keep the room softly illuminated. Don't stare continuously at the screen. Instead, keep the eyes shifting from one point to another, and look away from the set occasionally to focus on another object. Be sure to close your eyes from time to time, blinking frequently, and position yourself at least ten feet away from the television screen. Most of us rely on our vision to supply 80% to 90% of the information we process about the world. Our sight affects the way that we think and, in addition, the way we think affects our sight. (If you don't believe the latter statement, just remember that you actually see the world upside down, but your mind "inverts" the images so that they make sense!) Taking good care of this dominant sense organ, then, is obviously important. Will a regimen of eye-training exercises help you do that, and even improve defective vision? There's only one way to answer that question for yourself. Try it…and see!