Double perception/orientation of physical places?

[michaelanovaus]

I have had this "problem" my whole life, and it has proven extremely difficult to articulate to others, as nobody has understood or resonated with me thus far.

 

I have an odd "ability" (feels more like a burden - VERY disorienting) to perceive places I've known since I was a child (such as my home growing up, 3-18 years old, my childhood best friend's home 5-18 years old, my grandparents' longtime home, our summer cabin, etc.) in two differently "oriented" ways. My natural and non-confusing perception of these places feels, well, NORMAL, as it would to any person walking into a room. My second perception I can slip into as easily as one can flip a brand new lens on a camera - and through this different lens, I see my home, cabin, etc. entirely differently. Although everything comes through my eyes physically the same, it feels in my brain as though the room or house has been spun in an opposite direction, or is upside down - even while it certainly is not and does not LOOK physically that way. It is something going on inside my brain.

(Also, these two perceptions of each place always arrive exactly the same, respectively. I do not perceive each place in 3 or 4 different ways - just two - the normal and the different, consistently and respectively.)

 

I really want to know what this phenomenon is, or why it happens - ANY ideas about it at all. It is not a small perspective change. I am often left feeling confused, struggling to remember exactly what time/date it is, what I'm supposed to be doing, etc. - and even sometimes having a hard time "getting out" of the different lens. Thanks for reading this long and likely confusing post.

 

 

[StringJunky]

Sounds like some kind of interpretational rivalry of incoming visual data. A bit like when you look at the vase-face illusion except yours is manifested in the form of different orientations:

 

 

Do you experience this right before your eyes when you are there or when remembering them? If it's happening in the now then I should see your doctor and tell them you are experiencing episodes of inversions in the vertical and horizontal axis of your visual field; it could be indicative of other problems, yet to surface, as well as the ones you are having.

 

Before the scene reaches your brain, the image passing through your eye lens is inverted in the vertical and horizontal axis and it then gets turned the right way, in both planes, by your brain.... when it's working properly.

Edited April 3, 2017 by StringJunky

[michaelanovaus]

Thank you so much for this reply. I hadn't ever thought to compare it to one of those binocular inversion tests, but that is almost exactly what it feels like.

 

And yes, I can recall it through memory as well (e.g. I can "go into" my old house in memory and see it in these two different ways). Since you've posted, I've researched bistable perception and it seems it is like this, just somehow strangely extended into my memories and perceptions of places I have been.

I would love to have a brain scan and see if certain areas light up in my brain, as they do when people view the Necker Cube or vase-face illusion.

 

Thank you!

 

Sounds like some kind of interpretational rivalry of incoming visual data. A bit like when you look at the vase-face illusion except yours is manifested in the form of different orientations:

 

Vase face.PNG

 

Do you experience this right before your eyes when you are there or when remembering them? If it's happening in the now then I should see your doctor and tell them you are experiencing episodes of inversions in the vertical and horizontal axis of your visual field; it could be indicative of other problems, yet to surface, as well as the ones you are having.

 

Before the scene reaches your brain, the image passing through your eye lens is inverted in the vertical and horizontal axis and it then gets turned the right way, in both planes, by your brain.... when it's working properly.

[StringJunky]

Thank you so much for this reply. I hadn't ever thought to compare it to one of those binocular inversion tests, but that is almost exactly what it feels like.

 

And yes, I can recall it through memory as well (e.g. I can "go into" my old house in memory and see it in these two different ways). Since you've posted, I've researched bistable perception and it seems it is like this, just somehow strangely extended into my memories and perceptions of places I have been.

I would love to have a brain scan and see if certain areas light up in my brain, as they do when people view the Necker Cube or vase-face illusion.

 

Thank you!

 

No problem. I hope it puts you on a path to sorting it out. Half the problem sometimes is being able to express clearly what you are experiencing.