Human click-based echolocation: Effects of blindness and age, and real-life implications in a 10-week training program.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the factors that determine if a person can successfully learn a novel sensory skill is essential for understanding how the brain adapts to change, and for providing rehabilitative support for people with sensory loss. We report a training study investigating the effects of blindness and age on the learning of a complex auditory skill: click-based echolocation. Blind and sighted participants of various ages (21-79 yrs; median blind: 45 yrs; median sighted: 26 yrs) trained in 20 sessions over the course of 10 weeks in various practical and virtual navigation tasks. Blind participants also took part in a 3-month follow up survey assessing the effects of the training on their daily life. We found that both sighted and blind people improved considerably on all measures, and in som

SUBMITTER: Norman LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8171922 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature