CJ2K in Action

    Running back Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans stands in the backfield on 1 down and 10 yards to go. In the huddle, the play is called for him, and Johnson knows that the game is on the line. As Chris Johnson stands 5 yards behind Jake Locker, the quarterback, what exactly is he doing?
     Transduction is the process by which we receive light energy and transform it into neural messages. Lets first look at transduction in the eye. Light will first go through the pupil to the lens, where the image will reflect off the retina. There, the energy triggers a chemical change that sparks neural signals, activating neighboring bipolar cells. The bipolar cells in turn would activate the neighboring ganglion cells. The axons of the ganglion cells converge to the axons where the optic nerves will carry the information to the brain. This is all happening to Chris Johnson as he wants to see the field ahead of him. Now that he can see (he also sees color due to the cones via the Young-Hemoltz and the Opponent-Processing Theory, which I will not delve in to), how does he really begin to perceive exactly what is going on? In order to be a good running back, you need to find the hole in the defense and scan their formations. You need to know where you want to head and recognize the defenders. Through Visual Information Processing, the brain will use feature detection to differentiate between varying edges, lines, and angles. Next, Parallel processing occurs which will lead to recognition. Johnson will also note unconsciously some other important principles such as understanding the relative height of the safeties, the linear perspective to figure out where the endzone is, and will understand relative motion in terms of the movement of the defense.
      All of these factors occur in a split second, many of which are done unconsciously. They all help make Chris Johnson the player he is today.