A new study led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers has found the brains of those who are born blind "rewire" themselves in the absence of visual information, resulting in a heightened sense hearing, touch and smell, as well as cognitive functions such as memory and language.
Researchers reportedly compared MRI multimodal brain imaging from a group of 12 subjects with early blindness to scans from a group of 16 normally sighted subjects. On the scans of those with early blindness, investigators reportedly found structural and functional connectivity changes, including evidence of enhanced connections, sending information back and forth between areas of the brain that they did not observe in the normally sighted group.
According to researchers, they hope their findings will help increase understanding of these connections and will lead to more effective rehabilitation efforts to help those who are blind better compensate for the absence of visual information.
The study was recently published online by the journal PLOS ONE.
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Source: Massachusetts Eye and Ear