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Article: Do blind people track sounds better?(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- September 19, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Folk wisdom holds that the blind can hear better than people with sight. Scientists have a new reason to believe it.
Research now indicates that blind and sighted people display the same skill at locating a sound's origin when using both ears, but some blind people can home in on sounds more accurately than their sighted counterparts when all have one ear blocked. Canadian scientists describe the work in the Sept. 17 Nature.
Participants in the study were tested individually in a sound-insulated room. They faced 16 small, concealed loudspeakers arrayed in a semicircle a few feet away. With a headrest keeping their heads steady, the participants ...