Did you know that eyesight and vision are two different things, even though they are often used interchangeably? In today’s post, Alderwood Optical & Canyon Park Vision Clinic, a top local optometrist, sheds light on these terms.
Your optometrist explains that eyesight takes place in the eye. Light enters through the front of the eye and then an image is created on the retina. Some people have irregularly shaped eyes, which distort the focus of light onto the retina, leading to refractive errors. The image of what your eyes see through eyesight is then transferred to the brain where the process of vision takes place.
The brain automatically filters the image from the eyes and determines what information is important and what isn’t needed. Vision can be both consciously or subconsciously processed, and is affected not only by information coming in, but also by what we expect to see due to prior knowledge.
Imagine your child being presented a picture of a cow. Seeing the image clearly depends on your child’s eyesight, while processing what they see and recognize depends on their vision. When an eye doctor tells the child that they have 20/20 vision, they’re really saying that their eyesight is fine. While this means the child can see clearly, vision still refers to recognizing the image and whether both their eyes work together to process what they see. Put another way: your child’s eyesight allows them to see the cow, while their vision allows them to identify it as such.
When you’re looking for a trusted optometrist, consider visiting Alderwood Optical & Canyon Park Vision Clinic. Call us today at (425) 485 0430, or you can also contact us by requesting an appointment online. We serve Bothell, Lynnwood, Shoreline and neighboring WA areas.