#16: Seeing Through Cat’s Eyes (Comments)

"Very well-researched and delivered in an engaging, breezy, wink-wink tone similar to that of Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg's Why Do Men Have Nipples?, this will likely be enjoyed equally by science buffs and casual aficionados of the curious. One of the finest science/history bathroom books of all time."
-Kirkus Reviews

OTHER BOOKS BY ALEX BOESE

#16: Seeing Through Cat’s Eyes

In 1999 researchers led by Dr. Yang Dan, an assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley, anesthetized a cat with sodium pentothal, chemically paralyzed it with Norcuron, and secured it tightly in a surgical frame. They then glued metal posts to the whites of its eyes, and forced it to look a screen that showed scene after scene of swaying trees and turtleneck-wearing men.

This was not a form of Clockword-Orange-style aversion therapy for cats. Instead, it was a remarkable attempt to tap into another creature's brain and see directly through its eyes. The researchers had inserted fiber electrodes into the vision-processing center of the cat's brain. The electrodes measured the electrical activity of the brain cells and transmitted this information to a nearby computer which decoded the information and transformed it into a visual image. As the cat watched the images of the trees and the turtleneck-wearing guy, the same images emerged (slightly blurrier) on the computer screen across the room.

The commercial potential of the technology is mind-boggling. Forget helmet-cam at the superbowl; get ready for eye-cam. Or how about this — never carry a camera again. Take pictures by blinking your eyes. It would work great unless you had a few too many drinks on vacation.

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Total Comments: 16

Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.

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I would have to say this is false report of Dr. Yang Dan. Ask anyone who knows how images are made on a computer screen or photography (analog and digital) and they will explain how non-biological it is.
Posted by Mark on Thu Aug 30, 2007 at 08:39 AM

Clockwork Orange?
Posted by M on Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 02:54 PM

i don't think this is a false report.

It has appeared in many major Scientific Journals and I also remember visiting a project website that had detailed information, photographs, and even some videos of the output from the electrodes during the experiment.
Posted by Terranova in Los Angeles, CA on Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 03:13 PM

Is this true? How come I haven't heard of it? The most awesome application of this technology would be the transformation of dreams into images on computer screen. There was a movie where they did this.
Posted by Joe on Fri Sep 14, 2007 at 09:48 AM

is it just me, or is everyone else also seeing the banner at the bottom for divinecats.com, a cat health website? the banners says:

"for fabulous felines that deserve the best"

isn't that hilariously ironic?
Posted by Terranova in Los Angeles, CA on Fri Sep 14, 2007 at 09:58 AM

It wouldn't help capture dreams. it is only recording and decoding input just past the eyes, visual experiences deeper into the visual system are much harder to decode.
Posted by patrick wilken in boston on Fri Sep 14, 2007 at 09:25 PM

I hope they let the cats lead a relatively normal life afterwards.
Posted by John S in Berkeley, CA on Sat Sep 22, 2007 at 01:32 AM

i don't think it's possible for a cat to live, much less a normal life, after an experiment like that.

poor kitty. ;_;
Posted by guy on Sun Sep 23, 2007 at 11:25 PM

Unless they were vivisected afterwards to examine their brains, or just killed since the experimenters were done with them, the cats might have lived OK--sodium pentothal and Norcuron are just temporary anaesthetics/muscle relaxants, and wouldn't have injured the cats. Electrode implant also isn't lethal. i tried to Google info on the cat's fate, but didn't find any. I won't sweat it too much, but it is unpleasant to picture.
Posted by John S in Berkeley, CA on Mon Sep 24, 2007 at 09:52 AM

Appears to be real. Here is an article on it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/471786.stm
Posted by unbound on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 10:22 AM

Appears to be true from the site that ^ showed.
Posted by Joe in PhIlLy on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 03:21 PM

They should give the cat different types of drugs such as LSD to see if they have any direct affects on the visual processing.
Posted by Poopy on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:34 AM

That's awful. What kind of heartless bastards can do these horrible experiments to innocent animals? Try it on serial killers or mass murderers, they're obviously never going to live a normal life anyway. Better them than a poor sweet little kitty.

Posted by kitty-kitty123 on Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 02:40 PM

kitty-kitty123, your obviously a female of around... 10 years old?
Posted by . on Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 08:56 AM

I'm 16, and I fail to see how my gender has any bearing on this. And exactly what part of my logic did you find fault with? Moron... this world would be an infinitely better place if everyone cared about life like children do.
Posted by kitty-kitty123 on Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 12:22 PM

thanks mark!
Posted by Tom Terranova in Los Angeles, CA on Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 08:29 AM

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