Central Auditory Skills in Blind and Sighted Subjects

Muchnik, Chava; Efrati, Michal; Nemeth, Esther; Malin, Michal; Hildesheimer, Minka

doi:10.3109/01050399109070785

Cited by 159 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This is despite the fact that identical methods for threshold determination were used in both experiments. The existing literature on tactile thresholds is equally contradictive (Weinstein, 1968;Heinrich and Moorhouse, 1969;Liddle, 1969;Lindblom and Lindströ m, 1976;Warren, 1978;Bernard, 1979;Niemeyer and Starling, 1981;Bross and Borenstein, 1982;Hollins, 1989;Muchnik et al, 1991;Stevens et al, 1996), and we, therefore, conclude that neither visual deprivation nor Braille reading or the combination of both conditions is coupled with a substantial decrease of tactile perception thresholds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Sterr

Green

Elbert

2003

Biological Psychology

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In a previous experiment, we observed that blind Braille readers produce errors when asked to identify on which finger of one hand a light tactile stimulus had occurred. With the present study, we aimed to specify the characteristics of this perceptual error in blind and sighted participants. The experiment confirmed that blind Braille readers mislocalised tactile stimuli more often than sighted controls, and that the localisation errors occurred significantly more often at the right reading hand than at the non-reading hand. Most importantly, we discovered that the reading fingers showed the smallest error frequency, but the highest rate of stimulus attribution. The dissociation of perceiving and locating tactile stimuli in the blind suggests altered tactile information processing. Neuroplasticity, changes in tactile attention mechanisms as well as the idea that blind persons may employ different strategies for tactile exploration and object localisation are discussed as possible explanations for the results obtained. #

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Sterr

Green

Elbert

2003

Biological Psychology

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“…5,6 Nevertheless, while some studies have reported that blind individuals show better auditory spatial discrimination or localisation of sound sources than sighted subjects, other studies have failed to demonstrate this gain. [7][8][9][10] Recently, Finocchietti et al reported that localisation of sound in the mid-sagittal plane was poorer among blind individuals than sighted controls, indicating a clear deficit in encoding the sound motion in the lower hemisphere of the spherical coordinate system; however, the researchers confirmed that no such deficit was observed among congenitally blind subjects. 11 Voss et al confirmed that individuals who are blind demonstrated supernormal abilities in the recognition of sound sources both nearby and at a distance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 53%

Underwater Acoustic Source Localisation Among Blind and Sighted Scuba Divers: Comparative study

Cambi¹,

Livi²,

Livi³

2017

SQUMJ

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Objectives: Many blind individuals demonstrate enhanced auditory spatial discrimination or localisation of sound sources in comparison to sighted subjects. However, this hypothesis has not yet been confirmed with regards to underwater spatial localisation. This study therefore aimed to investigate underwater acoustic source localisation among blind and sighted scuba divers. Methods: This study took place between February and June 2015 in Elba, Italy, and involved two experimental groups of divers with either acquired (n = 20) or congenital (n = 10) blindness and a control group of 30 sighted divers. Each subject took part in five attempts at an under-water acoustic source localisation task, in which the divers were requested to swim to the source of a sound originating from one of 24 potential locations. The control group had their sight obscured during the task. Results:The congenitally blind divers demonstrated significantly better underwater sound localisation compared to the control group or those with acquired blindness (P = 0.0007). In addition, there was a significant correlation between years of blindness and underwater sound localisation (P <0.0001). Conclusion: Congenital blindness was found to positively affect the ability of a diver to recognise the source of a sound in an underwater environment. As the correct localisation of sounds underwater may help individuals to avoid imminent danger, divers should perform sound localisation tests during training sessions.

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“…[77][78][79] Early studies regarding the ability of the blind to localize, a binaural task of vital significance to the blind population, reveal inconsistencies in the results (see Ashmead et al 76 for a comprehensive review of spatial hearing in blind listeners). For example, Starlinger and Niemeyer 73 and Muchnik et al 80 found that blind subjects performed better than sighted listeners. Other studies of localization, however, found either no differences between the two groups or differences favoring the sighted groups.…”

Section: Auditory and Visual Localizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Dual Sensory Loss on Auditory Localization: Implications for Intervention

Simon

Levitt

2007

Trends in Amplification

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Our sensory systems are remarkable in several respects. They are extremely sensitive, they each perform more than one function, and they interact in a complementary way, thereby providing a high degree of redundancy that is particularly helpful should one or more sensory systems be impaired. In this article, the problem of dual hearing and vision loss is addressed. A brief description is provided on the use of auditory cues in vision loss, the use of visual cues in hearing loss, and the additional difficulties encountered when both sensory systems are impaired. A major focus of this article is the use of sound localization by normal hearing, hearing impaired, and blind individuals and the special problem of sound localization in people with dual sensory loss.

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Central Auditory Skills in Blind and Sighted Subjects

Cited by 159 publications

References 9 publications

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Blind Braille readers mislocate tactile stimuli

Underwater Acoustic Source Localisation Among Blind and Sighted Scuba Divers: Comparative study

Effect of Dual Sensory Loss on Auditory Localization: Implications for Intervention

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