Watching 2-Toned Vintage Truck Triggers Vertigo Episode
Cat and I ran some errands Friday, and at our first stop, I had an unusual experience.
I've said before that I have synethesia for percussive sounds. They create black and white striped patterns that can be jagged or wavy or convex or concave or a combination. I also trance out easily when I watch multiple moving objects. Between the two I think I'd be a dangerous driver!
I think what happened is related to how oddly my brain treats moving objects. I think...
So, I was in the Cat's car (a newer Prius) and we were parked parallel to the busy 2-lane road through Ceder Cove. Cat was inside ordering a new air filter for our tractor-mower and I was half staring in front of me and half watching cars go by. We get a LOT of specialty car owners here, as so many residents are well-off retired former Navy personnel. My head was half-turned towards traffic and half facing forward.
Then I noticed an early 60s vintage 2-toned pickup truck driving by and I watched it. It looked very close to this:
The truck was moving towards my position and then passed by. It only took a single second for that vehicle to pass, but by the time my eyes finished tracking it, a very odd thing happened. I suddenly got VERY dizzy! The world started spinning wildly and not just in circles but more like I was gyrating randomly inside a sphere. A total vertigo attack so severe I grabbed the car door and the middle storage compartment next to me to avoid falling down. It lasted a good 30 to 45 seconds and until I was sure that it was abating I got a little panicked, because what the hell just suddenly went wrong?
But it did slowly dissipate and I was left wondering what caused it. It seems the pattern of big white stripe and big teal stripe passing by at just that angle and speed flipped a switch in my brain. Luckily, I didn't get sick from it!
I'm left to wonder if I were to recreate a version of this if I could generate another vertigo attack. I may try that at some point because this was so strange and disturbing. I couldn't believe I'd have a reaction like that just half-heartedly watching a vintage truck drive by!
I've said before that I have synethesia for percussive sounds. They create black and white striped patterns that can be jagged or wavy or convex or concave or a combination. I also trance out easily when I watch multiple moving objects. Between the two I think I'd be a dangerous driver!
I think what happened is related to how oddly my brain treats moving objects. I think...
So, I was in the Cat's car (a newer Prius) and we were parked parallel to the busy 2-lane road through Ceder Cove. Cat was inside ordering a new air filter for our tractor-mower and I was half staring in front of me and half watching cars go by. We get a LOT of specialty car owners here, as so many residents are well-off retired former Navy personnel. My head was half-turned towards traffic and half facing forward.
Then I noticed an early 60s vintage 2-toned pickup truck driving by and I watched it. It looked very close to this:
The truck was moving towards my position and then passed by. It only took a single second for that vehicle to pass, but by the time my eyes finished tracking it, a very odd thing happened. I suddenly got VERY dizzy! The world started spinning wildly and not just in circles but more like I was gyrating randomly inside a sphere. A total vertigo attack so severe I grabbed the car door and the middle storage compartment next to me to avoid falling down. It lasted a good 30 to 45 seconds and until I was sure that it was abating I got a little panicked, because what the hell just suddenly went wrong?
But it did slowly dissipate and I was left wondering what caused it. It seems the pattern of big white stripe and big teal stripe passing by at just that angle and speed flipped a switch in my brain. Luckily, I didn't get sick from it!
I'm left to wonder if I were to recreate a version of this if I could generate another vertigo attack. I may try that at some point because this was so strange and disturbing. I couldn't believe I'd have a reaction like that just half-heartedly watching a vintage truck drive by!