March 1, 2008

01Mar08

Cameras are thought to be much like the eyes in perception of vision, for multiple reason, the prime one being the many layers that an image must travel through so as to be morphed into something “readable,” in a sense. For both cameras and eyes, the signal being received is not in a readable form. With eyes, for instance, photons serve as a sort of signal molecule for G protein coupled receptors in the retina that activate various pathways and molecules, such as the G protein complex transducin which will thereby activate the phosphodiesterase effector which will convert active cGMP to inactive GMP, so that the membrane of the axons present may be hyperpolarized and no Na+ ions may be allowed through. This hyperpolarization prevents glutamate from being sent to the brain and light is received. This is all very simplified, as there are many more factors involved such as ganglion cells, bipolar cells, and photoreceptors of the rod and cone families. The image seen is interpreted “upside down,” in the scheme of eye perception. With a camera, on the other hand, it is important to remember that a photon travels through different mediums at different speeds. So, as it hits the lens of the camera, the light will bend a little at a time until it reaches the film, where the image is inverted. (This can also be applied to eyes, in a sense). With a camera, however, instead of cells in the back of your retina recording various aspects of the image, such as cones for color images, film serves this purpose. The millions of different light particles hit the film, inverted, and are recorded. This is a highly simplified way of thinking about it. However, one can observe that even regardless of the many layers that both a camera and eye must utilize to finally view an image, they share similar traits such as a lens, and the fact that the image must be inverted so as to be “processed,” essentially. A key difference, as we all know, is that cameras produce images that are meant to last, while the eye perceives an image and must also interpret the images that are immediately presented to it less than milliseconds afterwards. It is upto the brain to store the images processed, and it is quite difficult for the brain to store images so as to get a perfect recollection of them at any point in time. Cameras allow memories to be made, while eyes allow individuals to actually see these memories. If images are strong enough, or meaningful enough, they have the potential to be recorded impeccably and be recalled at any moment, however that has more to do with the realm of the brain itself, as it is a fascinating part of our bodies.

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