Blind people hear better

How blind people use their sense of hearing in everyday life

For blind people and people with a significant visual impairment, hearing is important for spatial orientation in addition to communication. In principle, acoustic impressions are considered more reliable than optical ones, and it is not for nothing that there is more frequent talk of optical illusions. People with absent or impaired vision use acoustic impressions much more, which is why their sense of hearing is better trained - blind people hear better. They perceive sounds and especially changes better, for example traffic noise under a bridge or near a wall of a house. Estimating and locating acoustic signals contributes significantly to orientation. Sometimes blind people also use a form of echolocation by softly clicking their tongue and registering the reflection of the sound.

The acoustic signals are always combined by blind and visually impaired people with the impressions of their sense of touch obtained by spatial probing with a stick.

The interpretation of spoken words in a conversation is also better developed in the blind and visually impaired. They can usually perceive and classify nuances of speech and emotions well. Blind and visually impaired people also use these skills to "experience" movies in the cinema or on television with the help of audio descriptions in which a speaker describes the scenes. The images are created in the mind.

Development of brain regions for the senses

However, the fact that blind people hear better is not solely due to training and habituation. In people who are blind or significantly visually impaired from birth or early childhood, the brain develops differently. In a study by the Schepens Eye Research Insitute of Massachuetts Eye and Ear, the brain activity of twelve people who were either born blind or became blind as infants was examined using MRI scans.1 The analysis showed that in the individuals studied, brain regions are used differently and are linked differently compared to people with normal vision. The visual cortex, the part of the cerebrum responsible for visual impressions, also showed brain activity in them. However, it processed different information - often in conjunction with the auditory cortex, which processes acoustic stimuli. The scientists see this as one of the reasons why blind people are better able to localize and differentiate sounds.

Good hearing aids especially important for the blind

Because it is so essential for blind people to hear better, hearing loss affects them particularly severely. For them, and also for people with poor eyesight, it is all the more important to identify poor hearing at an early stage and, if necessary, initiate fitting with hearing aids. A hearing care professional can provide comprehensive information on this.