Practice, not loss of sight, improves sense of touch in the blind: study

May 11, 2011 in Neuroscience
Practice, not loss of sight, improves sense of touch in the blind: study

Enlarge

A photo of the device used in the fingertips experiments

New research from McMaster University may answer a controversial question: do the blind have a better sense of touch because the brain compensates for vision loss or because of heavy reliance on their fingertips?

The study, published in the most recent edition of the , suggests daily dependence on touch is the answer.

Twenty-eight profoundly blind participants—with varying degrees of Braille expertise—and 55 normally sighted adults were tested for touch sensitivity on six fingers and both sides of the lower lip.

Researchers reasoned that, if daily dependence on touch improves tactile sensitivity, then blind participants would outperform the sighted on all fingers, and blind Braille readers would show particular sensitivity on their reading fingers. But if alone improves tactile sensitivity, then blind participants would outperform the sighted on all body areas, even those that blind and sighted people use equally often, such as the lips.

"There have always been these two competing ideas about why blind people have a better sense of touch," explains Daniel Goldreich, corresponding author and a professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour. "We found that dependence on touch is a driving force here. Proficient Braille readers—those who might spend hours a day reading with their —performed remarkably better. But blind and sighted participants performed equally when the lips were tested for sensitivity."

Researchers used a specially-designed machine which held the pad of the participant's fingertip perfectly still for the experiments. While the finger lay over a hole in the table, the machine pushed rods with textured surfaces through the opening until they met the fingertip. Researchers asked subjects to identify the patterns by touch. A similar test was performed on the lower lip.

Not only did blind participants do better than their sighted peers, but Braille readers, when tested on their readings hands, outperformed nonreaders who were also blind. For Braille-reading participants, their reading fingers were more sensitive than their non-reading fingers.

"These results may help us design further experiments to determine how to improve the , which could have applications later in life," says Mike Wong, study author and a graduate student in the McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery & Study program. "Braille is extraordinarily difficult to master, particularly as an adult. In future we may find new ways to teach to people who have recently become blind."

More information: A pdf of the study can be found at: http://dailynews.m … esstouch.pdf

Provided by McMaster University search and more info website

5 /5 (2 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

klawy
May 11, 2011

Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
Anybody that is suprised? The brain can never just compensate - you have to learn and learn through practice. Can't realy belive that someone puts money and effort in to this - it might sound logic at a first glance. Turn it the other way around does your vision improve because you loose your sense of feeling... Why not blindfold people for 8h a day and see if there sense of touch is improved... Seriously... Do we need to test that hypothesis too?
Rank 5 /5 (2 votes)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • A question about drug tolerance
    created4 hours ago
  • Poor nutrition leading to overeating?
    created21 hours ago
  • Math and dyslexia?
    createdMay 21, 2012
  • portable metabolism meter?
    createdMay 21, 2012
  • Rare medical conditions on 20/20 tonight
    createdMay 18, 2012
  • "Good" Cholesterol in Doubt
    createdMay 17, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Treating pain with transplants

A new study finds that transplanting embryonic cells into adult mouse spinal cord can alleviate persistent pain. The research, published by Cell Press in the May 24th issue of the journal Neuron, suggests that reduced pain r ...

Neuroscience created 9 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers uncover new ways sleep-wake patterns are like clockwork

Researchers at New York University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered new ways neurons work together to ease the transition between sleep and wakefulness. Their findings, which appear ...

Neuroscience created 10 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study shows how immune cells change wiring of the developing mouse brain

Researchers have shown in mice how immune cells in the brain target and remove unused connections between brain cells during normal development. This research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, sheds light on ...

Neuroscience created 10 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Reverse engineering epilepsy's 'miracle' diet

For decades, neurologists have known that a diet high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrates can reduce epileptic seizures that resist drug therapy. But how the diet worked, and why, was a mystery—so much so that ...

Neuroscience created 10 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Dementia patients reveal how we construct a picture of the future

(Medical Xpress) -- Our ability to imagine and plan our future depends on brain regions that store general knowledge, new research shows.

Neuroscience created 11 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


The Goldilocks effect: Babies learn from experiences that are 'just right'

Long before babies understand the story of Goldilocks, they have more than mastered the fairy tale heroine's method of decision-making. Infants ignore information that is too simple or too complex, focusing instead on situations ...

Aspirin may prevent recurrence of deep vein blood clots

(HealthDay) -- After suffering a type of blood clot called a venous thromboembolism, patients usually take a blood-thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin). But aspirin may do just as well after a period of time, ...

Intrauterine devices, implants most effective birth control

A study to evaluate birth control methods has found dramatic differences in their effectiveness. Women who used birth control pills, the patch or vaginal ring were 20 times more likely to have an unintended pregnancy than ...

Women trying to have babies face different clock problem

A new Northwestern University study shows that the biological clock is not the only clock women trying to conceive should consider. The circadian clock needs attention, too.

Whole genome sequencing of rare olfactory neuroblastoma

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare have conducted whole genome sequencing (WGS) of a rare nasal tract cancer called olfactory neuroblastoma ...

Stem-cell-growing surface enables bone repair

University of Michigan researchers have proven that a special surface, free of biological contaminants, allows adult-derived stem cells to thrive and transform into multiple cell types. Their success brings stem cell therapies ...