Any anons want to talk about visual snow?

Bump...

They were historically called phosphenes I believe, because people thought it was phosphorous that is trapped in everyone's eyes, but it could only be seen in some occasions. I have zero clue what they really are though. Maybe difficulty differentiating the contrast of some dark things? I don't know.

>>7734546
My sister does experiments where she uses a high intensity magnetic field next to people's heads to induce phosphenes/blind spots. I don't know what the end goal of it is, but she always has enjoyed fucking with people's brains.

>>7734562
There is no general consensus about what phosphenes really are at this point in time though, is there?

>>7734546
I mean this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_snow

For a long time I did think the prevailing explanation for the blue field entoptic phenomena was incorrect, or severely incomplete. Considered physiological differences in the eye itself allowing to be reactive to magnetic fields of a certain sort. More or less because I had seen it everywhere, without monochromatic surfaces, and also had it move in somewhat orderly patterns, and seen the individual "fireflies" grow in size.

There was also the possibility that it wasn't the eye, and was either due to something in the brain, or due to something -not- occurring in the brain. Apparently early research is considering that same idea. It's obviously a multisystem deal, just subjectively. Somewhat low precision PET scans show hypermetabolism in the left lingual gyrus, and right anterior cerebellum, but also hypometabolism in some other region. They posited that it's a malfunction, or augmentation of some sort of dedicated and constant filtering the brain is otherwise doing to filter out certain types of expected noise. Which makes some sense, for a few other reasons...

I don't care about, or desire any treatment. I'm just real curious to see more of how it actually works. My glutamate upregulation hypothesis might have been more accurate than I expected.

I have a little. Don't notice it unless I think about it or some fuck brings it up.

>>7734676
...You're welcome.

Shameless self bump.

i've had it for as long as i can remember, since at least 7 years old. im now 25.

i've also had tinnitus for the same amount of time, and it feels theyre related somehow. when my tinnitus worsens, so does the visual snow.

the only thing that has slightly reduced the severity of it is benzos. i've also been addicted to both benzos and alcohol and symptoms were notably worse during withdrawal.

so i guess its somehow related to the gabaergic / glutamate systems, but as far as im aware theres no definitive research on the subject and all we really have to go on is anecdotal reports

>>7735202
I can't remember a time when I didn't have it. I always assumed the visual system was prone to noise, and that everyone saw roughly similar.

Sleep deprivation, intense pain, eating certain foods (eg tomato, eggplant, or grapefruit), amphetamine, and certain lighting conditions all noticeably worsen or change it. Kavalactones have some impact.

Do you ever see the vortex? A tornado or spiral galaxy-like shape spinning in the center of your vision when looking at something bright and monochromatic, like the sky. If you notice it and focus on it, you begin to see a lot of the grain morphs into it. My mind is probably an unusable mess if I'm seeing that.

Some early research has been done:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24816400
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26021756

Visual snow is nothing...
I have a lot of floaters and see the blue field entoptic phenomenon increasingly often... I feel like part of my peripheral vision is lost.
I'm really sure that it's related to some king of circulatory issue. Maybe a minor stroke or hematoma. Really fucking sucks. I'll never enjoy looking at the sky again. Or thinking clearly for that matter.

>>7735245
Can you clarify a bit more what on what you mean? Have you had any imaging done? Contrast MRI, etc.

Brain damage or vascular issues could be the underlying cause, but I'm inclined to think it has a strong genetic or early environmental component.

>>7735249
Not any imaging yet. I'm planning to do some vision examinations, blood tests, ECG and hopefully (if my insurance covers them) a few MRIs done after then new years eve.
It'll be hard to convince the average doctor that I might have serious health issues. A stupid bitch, 6 months ago, told me that my lymph nodes were swollen due to anxiety and depression, and that I should "have a goal in my life, maybe get a side job or go out with friends". Turns out my wisdom teeth were infected underneath my gums. For months.

Probably early damage is the case.
I've been smoking since 15, never ate healthy for extended periods, lots of stress and coffee, lots of eye strain for computers, a mild autoimmune and a long-term undiagosed infection probably all played their part.
I always knew that my body would suffer from my lifestyle, but I never realized that my vision and my mind would get damaged as well.

>>7735273
It's all interconnected, but people rarely realize until it's too late and they already have a problem. I got lucky that my health finished collapsing when I was in my mid to late teens, which forced me to be more realistic and aware of the demands I put on my body. I'd always used it like a tool.

Incompetence in the medical industry is unfortunately par for the course. A neurologist didn't agree with my assessment that my migraines were happening alongside another phenomena, if they weren't outright not occurring at all. I told her a few things didn't line up, didn't make sense, and said other avenues should be investigated. She stopped me mid-sentence and asked me where I did my residency. Then went on to say she "didn't have time to deal with people like me" and bluntly insisted "you have migraines, blah blah." Another neurologists just stared at me looking bored, then tried to drug me. Lots of wasted time, and th were getting pad while I was doing all the thinking and all the work. Turns out, trigeminal neuralgia. I told them. I feel a deep, raw, burning sensation in my face and scalp, nearly every day of the week. But no. No one can make the connections, and it takes me two whole years to passively narrow it down until I thought it was conclusive, and bothered to get it tested. Yeah what's your college education and training really worth you lazy cocksucker.

I've been there. It won't mean anything much right now, but don't get too down, things might not be as they seem. I was originally looking for signs of prior demyelination (MS) because I didn't sweat, couldn't function in the heat, and had for a long time had episodes where my brain stopped working properly, deteriorated, and my whole body, all of my skin felt like it was burning. I chased that and wasted a lot of time, and a lot of worry, when the real problem was severe food allergies and the aforementioned trigeminal nerve issue. I thought I knew. But I was wrong.

I got it from LSD, MXE and nbome 25i, one of these... it's not a good thing to have.

>>7735309
I hit the character limit, but all that's left to say is not to get too set on a small set of things that appear most probable. Simply being alive gets darker and darker, and it might not be so certain. I hope you get decent doctors, and have adequate insurance.

I mentioned it being inherited. My grandmother, a year or so before she died, began to complain of seeing thousands of tiny holes in the walls. I didn't think visual snow was abnormal at the time, and didn't make the connection. I assume she saw a number of specialists, and seemed to cause her a good deal of stress. I never knew to tell her, and instead thought it was caused by some medication.

My father also has something similar. Then me. But why? I've always had this, but my father had not. My grandmother was in her late 80's and developed it. Why then? It seems like there is a shared trigger for them.

Anyway. You mentioned you didn't like the look the sky. I either ignore it, or think it has almost a sense of beauty to it. It doesn't necessarily have to be a terrible curse. After a while it just kind of is.

I've had visual snow and other symptoms of HPPD since as far back as I can remember with no prior use of hallucinogens. Also, I've been unfortunate enough to experience concussive brain damage regularly and have witness how it effects the visual hallucinations.

In general my symptoms tend to worsen as I become physically and mentally exhausted. With the snow becoming blinding along with other effects like the vortex >>7735221 described when I'm on the verge of passing out.

On the flip side, when my mind is at its sharpest such as during a boxing match, the visual snow would almost completely disappeared and no other visuals like the vortex would appear during the time.

When I started to receive regular concussions from playing football these symptoms both worsen tremendously and were accompanied by actual visual hallucinations of random but usually frightening entities. I remember having a white witch popping out of the ground to grab me after one football game. Of course, the hallucinations may be from a completely different cause but they were positively correlated in their severity at times.

Now that I haven't received any brain damage in a few years and I am now on a very good sleep schedule, I rarely if ever experience anything besides a low to moderate amount of visual snow.

In terms of medical treatments done, I've had multiple MRIs done over the years and nothing has shown up on any of them.

Finally, pic related is a shitty photoshop job I made to show what one of the most common hallucinations I witness looked like.

File: hallucination 5.jpg (821KB, 3264x1836px) Image search: [Google]

821KB, 3264x1836px

>>7735354
And I forgot pic related.

It's a rendering error that occurs when the number of GI passes have to be lowered to account for other CPU intensive processes. Typically, this is done to people less likely to make the connection to the true nature of the world.

>>7734583
Wait... visual snow is a rare condition?

>>7735365
It's commonly associated with autism, hence its prevalence here.

>>7735366
But it isn't associated with autism, though.

>>7735370
If it isn't then why is it associated with autism?

>>7735370
Sounds like it would be associated with schizofrenia if you ask me.

>>7735373
Because you're in this thread, so we're associating with autism.

>>7735376
I'm in this thread, associating with autism?

>>7735377
Yes. Your autism.

>>7735380
Your autism?

>>7734155
Yeah! Even crazier than visual snow, I had an ocular migraine the other day. I swear, if I hadn't already had a few of them years before, I'd have been freaking out thinking I was about to go blind!

It starts with a blind spot right in the center of your vision, both eyes. I noticed it because I suddenly couldn't see the word I was reading. The spot seems to be filled with crazy moving zig-zag patterns. Then over the course of the next half hour, the spot expanded ing a semi-circle towards the left half of my field of view in a slow wave, with the center parts of my vision returning to normal. It was like a really slow wave expanding to the left. In half an hour, only my peripheral vision was affected and then it slowly faded away.

A really freaky cool effect. Glad I wasn't driving! The first time it happened I was on my bike, fortunately I was just a minute from my destination and got there safely.

>>7735413
Are you sure you weren't abducted by aliens?

>>7735309
>>7735323
I really feel for you. I hope things improve for all of us. Or at least they stop deteriorating.

The sole cause of visual snow is hallucinogens

>>7736626
I've never taken any hallucinogens.

>>7736626
I have visual snow and some other visual effects usually associated with HPPD without ever having taken any drugs.

I think it has to do with blue light emmited by the computer screen. I had a lot of visual snow until I downloaded the F.lux program. I still have a little bit of visual snow but it's not an annoyance anymore. It would also explain why aspies suffer from it a lot since they tend to spend a lot of time staring at screens. Seriously, get the fucking program, now.

>>7737855
This is interesting, and I'll have to think about that. It brings to mind the studies of blue light acting as a migraine trigger in some people. What if more blue light caused neurological adaptation, or fatigue, over time?

Other people say they can't stand staring at a computer screen, but I can do it for 24+ hours straight. Or barely look at a single screen for weeks, and it doesn't seem to matter.

Maybe I'll test this. It could explain the hypermetabolism.

>>7736626
actually the cause of the snow is your cones or rods not working how they typically do. either the cones or rods are shutting down.

>>7735245
I have both of these and visual snow. I always thought this was normal and other people weren't just paying attention enough so it kinda gets ignored.

sounds like similar thing to HPPD which I'm an unlucky owner of after abusing many different type of drugs for about 5 years

>>7737878
Research shows hypermetabolism in the brain. Eye is anatomically, but not necessarily functionally normal. Cone cells sending random pulses could be to blame, or issues with the optic nerve itself. But given the variability and some of the other aspects, it seems unlikely.

>>7737985
I had it for a couple years and it has actually completely gone away.

>>7737884
That was a hypothesis that was sort of pushed at one point. Either the snow and afterimages being psychogenic (similar to how if you play tetris all time you'll see flashes of blocks, or do a lot of IVTC'ing, you'll see brief flashes of interlaced "frames"), or due to hyper awareness of noise in one's visual fields. Some physicians were fairly resolute in this explanation.

As anyone who actually experiences it knows though, you can't simply turn it off no matter what you do or try. Though granted I've never really tried to get very metacognitive about it.

>>7738353
I have it right now, and it usually comes with DP/DR.

If you want to get rich, find a cure and sell it to us. I will easily buy it for 10k, if it's a cure.

>>7738361
I probably wouldn't bother to get a cure even if it was available and cheap. Unless it turned out to be some sort of organism living in the brain.

File: 1450660113662.gif (96KB, 700x330px) Image search: [Google]

96KB, 700x330px

>>7734155
I could not help but notice your gif was not optimized anon.
I have optimized your gif.
Your gif is now optimized.

>>7738487
I love you, lossless compresor.

Bump of a relatively shameless variety.

File: 440px-1415_Retinal_Isomers.jpg (36KB, 440x415px) Image search: [Google]

36KB, 440x415px

So how do you expect a blob of meat not to be noisy again? Biology is noisy yo. You think stuff that relies on diffusion to work will not be noisy?

>>7738487
>>7738499
He's the true master of /sci/.

>>7739532
I didn't. Apparently I was wrong.

Out of curiosity, how does most people's vision look?

>>7741118
To expand, I see flashing static. Tiny dots and vague patterns of noise that appear to be on the surface of objects rather than a uniform field over my vision. Dark objects receive light grain, light receives dark. Sometimes there are flashes of colors. There are lasting negative after images, sometimes, after looking at objects for more than a second or so. If I look very close on the border of two colors that have hard edges, I can see hundreds of tiny black dots bouncing along its "surface". Looking within these clusters reveals they are actually billions of tiny pink, yellow, and blue dots.

Might see starbursts. Little points that appear to spark without light on complex textures. See the blue field entoptic phenomena without blue. Occasionally they appear in my visual field and snake about randomly. Like termites throughout wood. Usually moving around the peripheries, and not necessarily towards the fovea. Once, upon sprinting, I had these dots appear when I bent over to catch my breath, then rapidly stood up. They grew and threatened to eclipse my vision outright, but eventually faded. Suggests blood flow, or blood oxygen levels potentiate that occurring.

Can't really see in the dark, it's a haze of noise beyond what's expected when relying on rods. Apt to see strobing red lights, and red flashes.

Etc.

I use to suffer migraines quite often. They often were directly behind one eye would be accompanied by distortions in my vision. During a very intense migraine I started to see normal distortion in periphery of my vision which grew larger and larger till my entire vision was blacked out. I then woke up on the floor several seconds later having passed out, but my headache was gone.

Now a days I don't get migraines but I've started seeing skittering firefly lights. It reminds me of a type of firework in video below except while fireworks radiate outward what I'm seeing is very random with no general direction. Any thought to what this could be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqaahxJT-3Q

.
The easiest way to see snow for me is by closing my eyes in front of a diffused light source. The sky doesn't always work.
If I rub my eyes hard I see a black lacework over a stygian blue background, with fixed "stars" that flicker through all colors (including impossible colors, like yellowish purple) extremely rapidly.

I always figured they were an artifact of the way the eye works, snow being individual retinal cells firing and recharging, and the pressure effect...fuck if I know.

>>7741178
Pushing on my eyes causes a similar thing. I used to do it obsessively as a child because I liked it. I would do it primarily to my left eye... I can't see blue out of that eye anymore, and I feel like I may have contributed to that... If not completely caused it.

>>7741178
>>7741278
I remember I used to love it too, because it would leave geometric patterns over my normal vision got a few minutes too. Later on in life I came to find out that LSD causes me to see the same/similar patterns, only for 10 hours rather than a few minutes

>>7741165
What "color" are the fireflies, and what do they look like? Is it anything like what I described in the post above yours?