Hi,
I'm presently involved with a university group experiment. We are
investigating the effects of 2 point descrimination within the visual
and auditory pathway and perhaps finding a link to Cortical dominance
within the brain (i.e. the dominant hemisphere [left for right handers
for example] will be better at the descrimination task than the lesser
dominant).
To test each eye indvidually, we used a flicker-fusion light source
(flickering light bulb), varying the frequency of flicker to find the
point where the source appears fused (non-blinking). The results show no
difference between the eyes.
To test each ear individually, we used a white noise sound source,
hooking it to a computer to allow the incorporation of 2 no-sound
"blips". Separating these two breaks in the noise at varying times
apart, in order to find the point where they appear fused (ie. as one
"blip" instead of the two "Blip blip").
We found that in all cases the right ear achieved a much higher degree
of two-point descrimination, but have yet to come up with a reasonable
conclusion as to why.
We are presently looking into vestibular functions/anatomy but any help
would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Duy (2nd year student)
