I have also seen this example, where a man blinded by strokes still avoids obstacles and recognizes emotions, without any conscious awareness[1]. Is this the same phenomenon?
In the published article they say that there is no evidence of blindsight. There is whole paragraph named: "No Evidence of Implicit Knowledge Found with Discrimination Tasks."
>Furthermore, we showed that he exhibited chance-level accuracy
on two-choice discrimination tasks for these distorted stimuli,
suggesting that his deficit did not spare the sorts of implicit
knowledge sometimes found in other deficits of visual awareness
From what I recall in my neuroscience class, this is likely to be caused by damage to the visual cortex, which is used to consciously process visual information, but not the superior colliculi, which is used to unconsciously process peripheral vision. This is caused by damage to one of the visual processing regions but not others.
From the article, it appears something similar has happened. Corticobasal syndrome potentially killed off some brain cells but not others, leading to damage at some areas but not others.
"Sara Ajina, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford who studies visual awareness deficits such as blindsight—a residual, unconscious “sight” in people with damage to the brain’s visual system..."
In the published article they say that there is no evidence of blindsight. There is whole paragraph named: "No Evidence of Implicit Knowledge Found with Discrimination Tasks."
>Furthermore, we showed that he exhibited chance-level accuracy on two-choice discrimination tasks for these distorted stimuli, suggesting that his deficit did not spare the sorts of implicit knowledge sometimes found in other deficits of visual awareness