Distorsioni temporali e continuità dell’esperienza percettiva. Aspetti fisiologici e considerazioni fenomenologiche

Di Selene Mezzalira

In: Verifiche, Anno XLVII, N. 1-2, 2018 XLVII , No. 1-2 ( 2018 )

Sezione Saggi / Articles

Abstract

At the neuronal level, the visual experience is continually interrupted by moments of blindness due to the saccades, the rapid ocular movements that accompany the dynamic exploration of the visual scene. Unlike what happens during ocular stasis, in which the salient information about the surrounding space is collected and processed in the visual system, the saccadic movements are instead associated with an inhibition mechanism, through which the conscious processing ofthe stimuli is systematically interrupted. How is it possible that the information gathered in the course of the saccades is integrated into a unique and coherent experience? A ‘remapping’ mechanism of inputs at their meeting with the neuronal fields of sensory receptors has been assumed as a fundamental factor in the explanation of the maintenance of visual continuity through the constant change of the retinal coordinates of perceived objects. Subjective time is elusive if we assume that the clock time is the only ‘real’ and ‘objective’ time. In contrast, subjectivity shows modes of timing that are irreducible at the time of clocks – modes, which refer to unconscious modalities of experiencing an ‘extended present’ that is not made of instant points, but of processes qualitatively different from the experimentally measured time.