I wonder.....

Falling down a couple of steps in the dark a couple of minutes ago made me wonder... when your pupils dilate due to drug use, could that increase your ability to see in the dark???

Absolutely... more light falls on your retina, therefore you get more contrast in low light conditions. On the other side of the coin, you'd better have some sunnies handy if your pupils are blown in the daytime, because things look overly bright and can have a hazy appearance as your retina struggles to deal with the intensity of the light that would usually be reduced by contracting pupils.
BigTrancer
------------------
Load universe into cannon. Aim at brain. Shoot.

Of course!!! That's the only reason I use drugs! It's that or eat a whole heap of carrots, but I don't like pissing orange.

although being able to see better is completely useless when everything is blurry whilst rolling at night!
------------------
rollin' and strollin', its kinda like bowlin'. my head's kinda big and it feels kinda swollin'!!
[This message has been edited by narks (edited 24 May 2001).]

Hmm, I was told drugs increased the *ability* of your pupils to adjust, rather than their overall size. In darkness, they get much bigger. In bright light, they contract a lot more, hence the "pinned" look druggies get in daylight.. I dunno why everything appears a lot brighter in daylight tho, prolly just cos we've all been in darkened rooms, it's natural and would prolly happen without the drugs huh. Is this just bollocks or are they onto something??

your pupils dilating is a parasympathetic reaction. it happens when you have 'intense' experiences, ie. fuck i can't think of an example, ummm...i spose like narrowly escaping death.
so the reason it happens when your on pills is cos your sense are heightened.
simple.
disclaimer: i'm a designer...i failed yr11 chem. i know nothing about science
------------------
...got a place for watching that will paint pictures and colour lights...
------------------

Close and closer to the last two posts. Yes the muscles controlling pupil dilation are controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system and drugs do cause them to dilate, not much to do with 'flight or fright' response though (dilation under stress to improve vision). Think however when you go into a bright bathroom at a club or something and you look at your eyes in the mirror and go "oooooh, I'm fucked". Also if you walk out of a club chopped in the morning and it's bright and sunny and you squint really hard, this is because of the dilated pupils sitting inside your head and you cant really control the amount of light hitting the back of your eyes. It actually hurts sometimes its so bright. (good idea for trippers to wear sunnies during the day)
Also its pretty funny to watch your pupils in the mirror when coming down. They dilate and contract and dilate and contract, generally looking a bit confused. Really good to watch after a good candyflip. (I wear contact lenses, thats why I spend so much time watching my pupils )
*Note: I am a scientist and that's why the english in this reply is so bad*

that pin-point pupil look
While many people are familiar with the pupil dilation from MDMA, it's also true that opiates and some other chemicals can cause your pupils to contract, leaving you with 'pinpoint pupils'.
BigTrancer
------------------
Load universe into cannon. Aim at brain. Shoot.

Yes, under the effects of mdma, my pupils have never gone small, as BT says, opiates (like the dreaded heroin) do that. Luko, I don't know what you are on to make you're eyes dilate AND contract but I've never heard the term "pinned" is used in reference to mdma users...
MDMA gives you the look (even in bright light) I like to refer to as "bambi-eyes"...
ahhh sweet sweet bambi-eyes... sigh...
In any case, darkness never looked so good!
Haha Munchee -"I am a scientist and that's why the english in this reply is so bad".
It's funny coz it's true Go scientists!
------------------
"Go peddle your kippers elsewhere clown" - Ren Hoek

ok, to reply and then ask another question... umm the whole pinhead thing, i was actually down at the beach having balcony rants with a friend of mine who's a doctor, ended up talkin bout drugs etc, and i mentioned 'pinheads', and he thought i was referring to mdma users...why the fuck is this?? when i told him i was referring to heroin users, he then thought it was because of the small pupil thing. i then had to explain that i just thought it was cos the shoved pins into their arms (maybe doctors htink too much, i dunno). just worries me that people who may have to deal with emergency situations involving drugs don't understand some of the language...
on topic now....about the pupils getting bigger then smaller thing...i had a very fun night a few months back on a little bit of caps, pills, dexies, rock, and a lil bito coke... i was never completely toasted, but nicely fucked for about 7-8hours, then when i got home i decided to do some work, i was getting fun lil dexie/whizz rushes every 5 or so minutes, but generally was feeling fine. then a friend came to talk to me, and said that my eyes were doing fuckin really weird shit, and i went and checked, and the pupils were going in, out, in, out like crazzzy...it was amazing. and kept on hapeening for about 12hours. but after that (and it has only just gone away) some friends i likve with have often commented (often late'ish at night when i'm doing work) that my pupils are massive (and are convinced i'm chopped)...i turn light on, one hand over one eye yadd yadda, nothing happens. f'ing odd. also in this period i noticed my eyes never reacted when i had pills (ie. never dilated), my pupils don't always dilate when i'm on pills, so i don't know if this was connected...
anyway, thought this might be interested to the scientisty people out there..
------------------
...got a place for watching that will paint pictures and colour lights...
------------------

RBB: boy you're just a freakshow
and to clarify, "fight or flight" responses are sympathetic, not parasympathetic
but someone with more science degree done than me might like to explain the other bits a bit more.
DQ.

Ooops my bad. Thanks DQ for pointing that out. Yes the dilation of pupil under 'fight or filght' reaction is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (it and the parasympathetic nervous system are a part of the autonomic nervous system) Interestingly the parasympathetic reaction (under rest and recuperation reactions) is to contract the pupils.
As for RBB's crazy eyes it could be a mixture of the chems taken (coke cause contraction?) or just overstressed muscles. If I get really bored one day I'll go and research the whole thing. The state of my pupils is not one of my greatest worries when I'm chopped so I haven't put much thought into it.
Oh yeah you should be able to see better in the dark though. Imagine if we had tapetum in our eyes (that reflective stuff in the eyes of dogs and cats and nocturnal animals), there'd be heaps of ravers running around with massive reflective eyes (and we'd be able to see in the dark a whole lot better). That'd be cool. *more bad english from me*

oh man, glow-in-the-dark eyes would be fucking COOL!!!
any geneticists out there willing to give it a go?

Just get some glow-in-the-dark contacts... scoobydont was wearing a pair the first time I met him at the Cage... freaky stuff

Scoobydont just about made me shit my pants that night.
I was off my face and I just about ran into a corner and cried when I saw those things!

contacts shmontacts... i want to get me some no bullshit animal eyes!
but where do you get contacts like that and how much do they cost? i imagine they'd be pretty pricey....