Episode 7. Injury to visual perception. Discussion with Justin

Justin suffered a brain injury that has drastically deteriorated his visual perception in unique ways. He has been fighting to maintain his life, to continue working, and to retain his independence. However the setbacks that are so common with brain injury have made his internal problems too overwhelming. On top of these inner struggles, being misunderstood by others only adds to the difficulties of brain injury. This discussion is also a good example of how the common mentality most people have to just "push through" challenges using force and grit doesn't exactly work for brain injury. His descriptions of his visual problems bring up very specific details that relate with what is know about how the brain's vision networks use angles and lines to create our sense of the world around us (links below). Although empirical research showing that brain injury can effect these parts of the brain and produce specific experiences is still lacking, it is more important to recognize that the brain is physical and works in specific ways. When these parts of the brain get injured, a person can in fact be highly aware of what has changed in themselves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercomplex_cellhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20-E_2bT2c (see ~3 min 40 sec for example of cells response to angled bars)Experiencing My Brain is a podcast devoted to detailed discussion with brain injury survivors about their experiences, problems, and ways that they have found to navigate their lives. These stories are important to help the non brain injured world make sense of the problems that come with brain injury.