What is the blind spot?
Sources:
The concept of the "blind spot" relates to a specific area in our visual field where no visual information is received because there are no photoreceptors (rods or cones) at the spot where the optic nerve exits the retina. explains that each eye compensates for the blind spot of the other, so we do not typically notice this gap when both eyes are open. However, if you cover one eye, you can detect this blind spot by doing a simple experiment with two marks on a piece of paper, where one mark will disappear when the paper is moved at a certain distance while fixating on the other mark 1.
The brain fills in this missing information to create a seamless visual experience. This phenomenon occurs because the brain is constantly making guesses about the world based on available visual information, which allows us to perceive a complete and continuous visual field 2.
Moreover, and discussed that small eye movements, called microsaccades, prevent our eyes from fixating on one location long enough to observe our blind spot. When experiments eliminate these movements, objects in our visual field start disappearing, further confirming the role of these eye movements in visual perception 1.
RELATED QUESTIONS