Color Sightongue

Technology is amazing, to be honest. Especially in the studies profiled in this article.

When the subject receives pricks or pulses on their tongue [based on sophisticated technology that changes the intensity of the pulses or pricks based on things such as contrast, in white or black, or in spatial positioning, in the form of balance], the sensory neurons *on* the tongue are activated. These neurons, feeling input, generate action potential and "fire" down the dendrites, through the cell body, down the axon, out the axon terminal, and across the synapse (with the use of neurotransmitters), where the message/impulse/action potential is sent to the next neuron. This process is repeated, in a startlingly short amount of time, until the message/impulse reaches an interneuron in the spinal cord. It ascends to the top of the spinal cord, into the thalamus.

The thalamus, being somewhat similar to a flight-director with bright orange batons, figures out where to send the sensory input. In the case of the blind-person-that-"sees"-with-his-tongue, the thalamus recognizes the input as optical input. The input is sent to the occipital lobes, the main house of vision.

The message is then read and interpreted. The more often the brain uses this pathway, the more strong it gets. Older, infrequently-used pathways are pruned and discarded. This illustrates the brain's ability to reassign and make new pathways at its best. The strength of the little powerhouse that is the brain is simply amazing.