Post 3: Research post

Blind People process touch faster:
Neuroscience research has indicated that blind people can process touch faster than people who have normal vision. "Study suggests brain may adapt to vision loss by increasing speed of tactile perception."
      Daniel Goldreich, PhD, of McMaster University explored whether people who have a special reliance on a particular sense,in the way blind people rely on touch, would process that sense faster:
"Our findings reveal that one way the brain adapts to the absence of vision is to accelerate the sense of touch,” Goldreich said. “The ability to quickly process non-visual information probably enhances the quality of life of blind individuals who rely to an extraordinary degree on the non-visual senses.”

  Early onset on blindness can sense touch even faster"
The authors tested the tactile skills of 89 people with sight and 57 people with various levels of vision loss. The volunteers were asked to discern the movements of a small probe that was tapped against the tips of their index fingers. Both groups performed the same on simple tasks, such as distinguishing small taps versus stronger taps. But when a small tap was followed almost instantly by a larger and longer-lasting vibration, the vibration interfered with most participants’ ability to detect the tap, a phenomenon called masking. However, the 22 people who had been blind since birth performed better than both people with vision and people who had become blind later in life.

http://neurosciencenews.com/blind-people-process-touch-faster/ (resource)