References & Sources  -  September 19, 1998

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Do blind people track sounds better?

When only one ear is used, some blind people locate the origins of sounds more accurately than people who can see.

 

References:

Lessard, N., M. Paré, F. Lepore, and M. Lassonde. 1998. Early-blind human subjects localize sound sources better than sighted subjects. Nature 395(Sept. 17):278.

Sadato, N., et al. 1996. Activation of the primary visual cortex by Braille reading in blind subjects. Nature 380(April 11):526.

 

Further Readings:

Bower, B, 1995. Moving with the mind’s eye. Science News 148(Aug. 12):104.

Feldman, D.E., and E.I. Knudsen. 1997. An anatomical basis for visual calibration of the auditory space map in the barn owl’s midbrain. Journal of Neuroscience 17(Sept. 1):6820.

Pons, T. 1996. Novel sensations in the congenitally blind. Nature 380(April 11):479.

Rauschecker, I.P. 1995. Compensatory plasticity and sensory substitution in the cerebral cortex. Trends in Neurosciences 18:36.

Thinus-Blanc, C., and F. Gaunet. 1997. Representation of space in blind persons: Vision as a spatial sense? Psychological Bulletin 121:20.

Wheeler, L.C., K. Floyd, and H.C. Griffin. 1997. Spatial organization in blind children. Re:View 28(Winter):177.

Sources:

Eric I. Knudsen
Stanford University School of Medicine
Department of Neurobiology
Stanford, CA 94305-5125

Helen J. Neville
University of Oregon
Department of Psychology
Eugene, OR 97403-1227

Michel Paré
University of Montreal
Department of Physiology
C.P. 6128
Succursale Centre-Ville
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7
Canada

Tim P. Pons
Wake Forest University
Department of Neurosurgery
School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1029

From Science News, Vol. 154, No. 12, September 19, 1998, p. 180.
Copyright © 1998 by Science Service.

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