E125: How does the brain adapt to blindness? [SJK Audio Edition]

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-does-the-brain-adapt-to-blindness/  or watch at: https://youtu.be/SvF3TX1iO2Q Summary: Scientists tested how blind and sighted people used sound in tracking motion to learn more about how the brain works.Abstract: You hear footsteps behind you. They’re getting louder! You turn around quickly. Your friend was trying to sneak up on you. How did you know they were there? Your brain was hard at work! It took clues from your senses and turned those clues into information. But not everybody’s senses work the same way. When someone is blind or deaf, their brains learn to use the other senses differently. We were interested in knowing how blind people use sounds to learn about moving objects. We found that people who became blind during early childhood were better at following sounds than sighted people. Both blind and sighted people tracked moving sounds in a similar way. But blind people were much better at ignoring background noise. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com