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In blindsight, the brain can still process visual inputs despite a lack of awareness that is caused by damage to the geniculostriate pathway. Some have hypothesized that a separate pathway allows rapid visual input to the amygdala to mediate affective reactions. In this study, researchers used behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures to examine responses to affective stimuli in both seeing and blind hemifields in nine patients with homonymous hemifield defects.
Patients viewed a picture of a face that was sometimes followed by an unpleasant scream. When presented again, the face potentiated the startle response to a subsequent white-noise stimulus designed to elicit a blink reflex. This “startle potentiation” was …