How Do Optical Illusions Work?

No matter what age you are, everyone has experienced the mind-blowing fun or head-hurting struggle of an optical illusion. For some people, the original image magically comes to life on the page. For others, you could spend an entire lifetime staring at an image and nothing would appear. So how do optical illusions work? You’re about to find out!

Optical illusions are essentially mind games played on your brain. This can be done in three ways: 

Optical illusions can create new objects or images out of a combination of patterns and objects. For example, small images of tree branches might come together in an optical illusion to reveal many faces.

There are optical illusions that excessively stimulate the brain with an overwhelming light, tilt, or color. By positioning black lines very closely together in a spiral, for example, the white space between the lines begins to “move,” causing the picture to move. 

Finally, there are optical illusions that are cognitive illusions, in which the brain makes inferences when it views a certain object. For example, images are created to be paradoxical in nature, so it is confusing to understand whether a staircase is going up or down. 

Scientists use optical illusions to learn more about how the brain works. Studies have shown that humans understand this skill at a very young age. Because this is such a unique skill, scientists are eager to study more about this process to see if it helps us in the future.

So why does it take some people longer to process optical illusions than others? Everybody’s brain is different. Therefore the process of understanding optical illusions and making sense out of them is distinctive for individuals. Now, this does not measure intelligence by any means. Some brains can simply piece together strange images and patterns more quickly than others.

Either way, optical illusions are a fun, yet sometimes painful, way to keep your brain active!

Day or Night Infinite Eye Care Can Help!

Last night, Dr. Tom got a call from someone who poked their right eye with a tree branch. They were in extreme pain and figured they would not be able to sleep that night because of it. Dr. Tom was able to go to the office after hours at 9:30 PM, assess the situation and treat the patient so that they could sleep at night without pain and prescribe medications that will heal the injured eye without any troubles. All this in about a half an hour time span. The patient was elated to know they had access to this kind of personalized care and not have to be in pain waiting for morning or travel to the emergency room for the ridiculous waiting and costs that would have ensued there.

Dr. Tom Johnson and Infinite Eye Care can diagnose and treat red (pink) eye, eye injuries, objects in the eye, chemical burns to the eye and many other sources of medical emergencies, day or night.

Never Too Early

As Infinite Eye Care has mentioned a couple of times this month, January is National Glaucoma Awareness month. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually steal sight without warning because there are no symptoms and once vision is lost, it is permanent. Although the most common forms primarily affect the middle-aged and the elderly, glaucoma can affect people of all ages. The bright side to all of this: it’s preventable!!!

The cure is as simple as receiving an eye exam. Even though this process is quick and painless, 2.7 million people in the United States over age 40 have glaucoma because they do not catch it early enough. Even more astonishing, half of those individuals still don’t know that they have it.

In addition to adults, we recommend that all children receive eye exams.

Minnesotans who are parents of newborns are strongly encouraged to bring their young ones in for a FREE eye exam. The best time to examine the eyes, though it may seem young, is between 6 and 12 months. This effort is being performed all over the United States in an attempt to catch vision problems as early as possible.

Here at Infinite Eye Care, we provide a service called the InfantSEE program. This program is designed to ensure that eye and vision care become an essential part of infant wellness care to improve a child’s quality of life. Under this program, Dr. Tom provides a comprehensive infant eye assessment as a no-cost public service.

While it may sound like it would be pretty tough to check the eyesight of an infant, the test is tailored for the very young, as it includes preferential looking to see if they’re looking at specific targets.

Talking about glaucoma is not meant to scare you. However, it is meant to make you more aware of a growing disease that is 100% preventable if the right precautions are taken. Please make an appointment for yourself and your family members. It’s never too early!

Infinite Eye Care is Hiring!

Imagine yourself here!

Infinite Eye Care is growing and we would like to bring on board a full time person with the intention of growing with our clinic. We would like a pleasant, energetic, positive person that has experience with people. Previous receptionist and/or front desk experience is a plus. Optical experience preferred but will train. Must be available to work until 6pm at least 2 nights a week and every other Saturday, only until 1:00pm.

Please send resume to info@infiniteeyecare.com or resumes can be dropped off at our office in Sauk Rapids. 

For more information about our clinic visit our website.

Tick Tock

The practice of medicine has changed drastically and will continue to change. Doctors are being buried in paperwork and regulations. They are spending less and less time actually engaging with their patients.

Dr. Tom has always believed that establishing a relationship with his patients is of the utmost importance. One of the reasons he opened his own practice was to be able to spend very high quality time with his patients in contrast with corporate medicine. 

Dr. Tom spends 20-30 minutes with every patient during each comprehensive eye examination. This is face-to-face time. Dr. Tom gets to know every patient on an individual basis. Dr. Tom does the testing, explains the results and personally discusses the patient’s options with the patient. A little old fashioned; maybe but he believes this individual attention allows for higher quality medical care. According to Dr. Tom, “I want my patients to have a better understanding of what we are looking at, what we are recommending and why. Wiser patients appreciate being in the loop more than just being told what to do.”

Well said Dr. Tom, well said!

Infinite Eye Care Dr. Tom Johnson

We believe that innovative, comprehensive, patient centered vision care is of infinite value to our clients. Our aim is to deliver personalized recommendations, quality products and unparalleled service to our patients, enhancing the quality of their lives in immeasurable ways.

We offer personalized vision services. Dr. Tom and the staff will get to know you and your individualized eye care needs. We believe that establishing personal relationships is good business and good for the community. We know our customers names, our atmosphere is relaxed, we provide one on one consultation and customer satisfaction is everything to us.

Preventative care is a cornerstone of our practice. We strongly encourage our patients to schedule an annual vision exam. MOST INSURANCE PROGRAMS PAY FOR AN ANNUAL VISION EXAM. Our practice accepts almost all insurance plans.

Our retail eyewear selection includes the latest eye care technology and fashion. Our selections include:

• Crizal No Glare Lenses
• Callaway Sunglasses
• 7eye Eyewear
• Michael Kors Eyewear
• Wildflower Eyeglasses
• bebe Eyewear
• Rampage Eyewear
• GANT Eyewear
• Scott Harris Eyewear
• London Fog Eyewear
• Jalapenos Eyewear
• Bulova Eyewear
• Natori Eyewear
• Joseph Abboud Collection
• Michael Ryen
• William Rast

For our patients with higher prescriptions we recommend Digital lenses. These lenses work great for bifocal users and people with high amounts of astigmatism.

Come on over to Infinite Eye Care and meet our staff, Dr. Tom, Tonja, Cindy, Lindsey, and Darlene. We are your local eye care professionals.

Dr. Tom's Stache

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. Along with their Mo's, these men raise vital awareness and funds for men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives. The funds raised in the US support prostate cancer and testicular cancer initiatives.

Dr. Tom from Infinite Eye Care and his team ("Just Moet") of Mo Bro's (Carl Koehn, James Kantor, Timothy Schmidt, Brady Nielsen, Eric Alf, Josh Jaeger, Rukshan Wijeratne) are proud to be getting their mustache on for the great cause. These guys are donating their faces for 30 days in order to help their fellow men (and wives, girlfriends, daughters, etc.) 

It can be done! Dr. Tom in the 80's with a moustache. 

Dr. Tom is encouraging the public to donate to his efforts. Here is how you can help...

1) Click HERE to pledge a donation.

2) The naming rights to Dr. Tom's growing "stache" are available to the first person who pledges a $100 donation. The naming rights donation must come from an individual (not a company) and the chosen name must be "family friendly." Dr. Tom will match the $100 donation personally. 

Let's all work together to help your grandfather, your dad, your sons, and their sons.