alarm-ringing ambulance angle2 archive arrow-down arrow-left arrow-right arrow-up at-sign baby baby2 bag binoculars book-open book2 bookmark2 bubble calendar-check calendar-empty camera2 cart chart-growth check chevron-down chevron-left chevron-right chevron-up circle-minus circle city clapboard-play clipboard-empty clipboard-text clock clock2 cloud-download cloud-windy cloud clubs cog cross crown cube youtube diamond4 diamonds drop-crossed drop2 earth ellipsis envelope-open envelope exclamation eye-dropper eye facebook file-empty fire flag2 flare foursquare gift glasses google graph hammer-wrench heart-pulse heart home instagram joystick lamp layers lifebuoy link linkedin list lock magic-wand map-marker map medal-empty menu microscope minus moon mustache-glasses paper-plane paperclip papers pen pencil pie-chart pinterest plus-circle plus power printer pushpin question rain reading receipt recycle reminder sad shield-check smartphone smile soccer spades speed-medium spotlights star-empty star-half star store sun-glasses sun tag telephone thumbs-down thumbs-up tree tumblr twitter user users wheelchair write yelp youtube

Deaf People May Develop “Super Vision” To Compensate For Hearing Loss.

The UK’s Telegraph (10/11, Smith) reports, “Scientists believe the brain adapts to the loss of hearing by rewiring itself to enhance sight,” according to findings reported online Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Parts “of the brain that normally locate sound can learn to do the same job using vision instead.” Researchers “made the discovery by studying cats — the only animal besides humans that can be born congenitally deaf.”
BBC News (10/11) quotes study author Dr. Stephen Lomber, who said, “The brain is very efficient, and doesn’t let unused space go to waste.” He added, “The brain wants to compensate for the lost sense with enhancements that are beneficial.” For example, “if you’re deaf, you would benefit by seeing a car coming far off in your peripheral vision, because you can’t hear that car approaching from the side — the same with being to more accurately detect how fast something is moving,” he noted. The UK’s Press Association (10/10) also covered the story.