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Dr. Oliver Sachs=92 lecture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore=20 County was about restructuring our perception of the world around us due=20 to neurological factors. He first discussed how we create our view of=20 the world throuhg our senses and then gave several illustrations of how=20 =93normal=94 people who suffer from color-blindness, blindness, deafness,= =20 etc., are forced to rebuild their concept of reality. He also included=20 the opposite situation: someone deaf or blind from birth suddenly being=20 able to hear or see.=20 Adaptation is usully very slow at first but then increases relatively=20 quickly. New patterns form in our neurosynapses and the areas of the=20 brain where the prior function resided are now used for other functions.=20 Some people get to the point that they not only no longer miss the prior=20 function but would not want it restored if given the chance. Part of the problems encountered in restructuring our view of the world=20 lie with others. They have to accept that our view had changed and try=20 to see things from our point of view. A artist who became color-blind=20 and had stopped painting for a long while eventually started back. When=20 his friends looked at his latest paintings they looked like a mass of=20 incomprehensible colors, but when someone took black and white polaroid=20 pictures of the paintings they then saw the beautiful composition of=20 grey-tones the artist saw. Dr. Sachs then discussed neurological conditions such as autism where a=20 person=92s concept of the world may have the form but not the substance of= =20 the perceptions of others. He related how he was traveling through=20 Colorado and Utah with Temple Grandon (?), a doctor who is autistic. One=20 day he was enthralled by the beauty of the mountains and of the sunset.=20 He asked Temple if she was enjoying the sight. Her reply was that she=20 knew it was beautiful but did not know what beauty meant. She could=20 recognize the technical aspects of what we call beauty (the form) but=20 lacked the emotional reaction (the substance) generally associated with=20 the perception. He concluded his lecture by stating that whatever the=20 disability/challenge, there was one sense it is critical to maintain,=20 and that is a sense of humor (<giggles> for Barb, et al.). As the token Parkie on the UMBC faculty I got a brief chance to talk=20 with Dr. Sachs. Although still interested in Parkinsons=92 Disease the=20 thrust of his current research is in the area of altering perceptions=20 due to neurotropic factors. A note to those who inquired: Dr. Sachs=92 presentation was at the request= =20 of the UMBC Humanities Forum and not part of a lecture tour. He does not=20 know if/when he may embark on one. Your Cyber-bro reporting from Parkie Central. Bruce 56/9 Sinemet CR and Mirapex http://umbc.edu/~warr ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bruce G. Warr "Experience is what enables us to recognize Healthcare Informatics Lab a mistake the next time we make it." Information Systems Dept. University of Maryland Baltimore County http://umbc.edu/~warr/ (V) (410)455-3206 (F) (410)455-1073 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =20