George Scarlatis
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Phosphenes Is the Word You're Looking for
Phosphenes are the luminous floating stars, zigzags, swirls, spirals, squiggles, and other shapes that you see when closing your eyes tight and pressing them with your fingers. Basically, these phenomena occur when the cells of the retina are stimulated by rubbing or after a forceful sneeze, cough, or blow to the head. The word phosphene comes from the Greek words phōs (light) and phainein (to show). Phainein is also a contributing element in such words as diaphanous, emphasis, epiphany, and phenomenon, among others.
Examples of phosphene in a Sentence
Nick Romeo, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2023
Humphrey tried the setup for himself, seeing the phosphenes when the current stimulated his retina.
—Nick Romeo, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2023
In one participant, simultaneous stimulation of five electrodes, each one associated with one discrete phosphene, triggered the illumination of two large phosphenes that did not coalesce into a letter or any other coherent form.
—Christof Koch, Scientific American, 10 May 2021
Scientists picked up signs of phosphene on Venus by using a technique called rotational spectroscopy.
—Rhett Allain, Wired, 26 Sep. 2020
But if multiple electrodes came online simultaneously, the individual phosphenes still appeared but did not come together as coherent shapes, Live Science wrote.
—Fox News, 15 May 2020
Argus II offers a relatively crude form of artificial vision; users see diffuse spots of light called phosphenes.
—Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, 31 Oct. 2019
But at the meeting, Second Sight’s collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, presented evidence that the 60 electrodes could create phosphenes at more than 60 locations.
—Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, 31 Oct. 2019
That magnetic pulse caused a flash of light (a phosphene) in the receiver’s visual field of the receiver as a cue to turn the block.
—Robert Martone, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2019
Dictionary Entries Near phosphene
Cite this Entry
“Phosphene.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phosphene. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
phosphene
noun
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