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<blockquote data-quote="PoloMint" data-source="post: 330328" data-attributes="member: 175235">As for the original question, I doubt there is much current research being done one it (probably not that many people willing to fund it).But it might be solved as a by-product of other research (but it seems very unlikely).This happened relatively recently with another old philosophical problem. Can you perceive colour without form? That is, can you imagine red, without it having any shape - not a red object, not a red cloud, not even an entirely red world, just 'redness'?Neuropsychological data shows that indeed it is possible. Colour and form are processed in different areas of the visual system. A lesion (caused by stroke/CO poisoning, bang on the head etc) can selectively damage the processing of one of these. This would normally leave their visual system in quite a bad way, perhaps even rendering the person 'blind' (in the legal definition) but nonetheless when damage is in a certain are of the visual system, when shown a particular set of stimuli, the person can perceive the colour, but not the shape or form. So they can see/feel red, but not be aware why, or be aware of what is causing this perception.In healthy people colour and form are processed in different pathways, and at different speeds, so you are aware of one before the other, as can shown in reaction time tests. Also, a considerable amount of the human visual system is colourblind...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="PoloMint, post: 330328, member: 175235"] As for the original question, I doubt there is much current research being done one it (probably not that many people willing to fund it). But it might be solved as a by-product of other research (but it seems very unlikely). This happened relatively recently with another old philosophical problem. Can you perceive colour without form? That is, can you imagine red, without it having any shape - not a red object, not a red cloud, not even an entirely red world, just 'redness'? Neuropsychological data shows that indeed it is possible. Colour and form are processed in different areas of the visual system. A lesion (caused by stroke/CO poisoning, bang on the head etc) can selectively damage the processing of one of these. This would normally leave their visual system in quite a bad way, perhaps even rendering the person 'blind' (in the legal definition) but nonetheless when damage is in a certain are of the visual system, when shown a particular set of stimuli, the person can perceive the colour, but not the shape or form. So they can see/feel red, but not be aware why, or be aware of what is causing this perception. In healthy people colour and form are processed in different pathways, and at different speeds, so you are aware of one before the other, as can shown in reaction time tests. Also, a considerable amount of the human visual system is colourblind... [/QUOTE]

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