Deakin University
Browse

Congenital blindness leads to enhanced vibrotactile perception

Version 2 2024-06-05, 05:14
Version 1 2019-08-07, 08:50
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-05, 05:14 authored by CY Wan, Amanda WoodAmanda Wood, DC Reutens, SJ Wilson
Previous studies have shown that in comparison with the sighted, blind individuals display superior non-visual perceptual abilities and differ in brain organisation. In this study, we investigated the performance of blind and sighted participants on a vibrotactile discrimination task. Thirty-three blind participants were classified into one of three groups (congenital, early, late), depending on the age at which they became blind. Consistent with previous neuroimaging data, individuals blinded after late childhood (14 years) showed no advantage over sighted participants. Both the congenitally- and early-blind participants were better than the sighted. The congenitally blind participants were even more accurate than the early-blind participants; a distinction that has not been drawn previously. Duration of blindness did not predict task performance and the effect of onset age persisted after duration of daily Braille reading was accounted for. We conclude that complete visual deprivation early in life leads to heightened tactile acuity. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

History

Journal

Neuropsychologia

Volume

48

Pagination

631-635

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ISSN

0028-3932

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, Elsevier

Issue

2

Publisher

Elsevier

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC