Humans Can Learn To Echolocate In Just 10 Weeks, and It Rewires the Brain (sciencealert.com)
- Reference: 0184628066
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/07/24/021238/humans-can-learn-to-echolocate-in-just-10-weeks-and-it-rewires-the-brain
- Source link: https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-can-echolocate-and-it-changes-the-wiring-of-the-brain
> A study [2]published in PLOS One in 2021 by researchers from Durham University in the UK showed that with 10 weeks of training, [3]both blind and sighted people could learn to echolocate using verbal clicks . While the technique is already used by a number of people with impaired vision -- sometimes using the taps of a cane instead of clicks made by their mouth -- those findings suggest that many of us can learn the necessary techniques.
>
> Some of the same researchers who made that discovery are part of the team behind a follow-up study [4]published in Cerebral Cortex , looking at how the 10 weeks of training that the 26 participants went through actually changed the physical structure of their brains. Specifically, the team analyzed brain scans of the V1 (the primary visual cortex, processing visuals), and the A1 (the primary auditory cortex, processing sounds). Strikingly, the scans showed that the V1s of both blind and sighted people had developed sensitivity to sound echoes during echolocation training.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~alternative_right
[2] https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252330
[3] https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-can-echolocate-and-it-changes-the-wiring-of-the-brain
[4] https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae239
Human hearing is amazing (Score:5, Informative)
This is simply using our amazing ability to spatially locate sounds. We can spatially locate sounds in front of us side-to-side with an accuracy of around 1 degree. That's pretty incredible. For comparison, cats and dogs cannot spatially locate sounds with nearly that accuracy (about 5 degrees for cats, 8 degrees for dogs), even though they can physically pan their ears around to focus sound collection where they want.
To give an idea of just how incredible that is, 1 degree accuracy means that a sound (or echo) from 20 feet away can be determined with 4 inches accuracy side to side (or in metric, an object 6 meters away can be located to 11 centimeters accuracy).
Using this innate ability for echolocation just makes sense.
Re: (Score:3)
It's likely because dogs and cats can adjust their ears likely leads to their lowered spatial accuracy - because moving their ears around adds a new wrinkle to determining location - the ear position.
And when you add that to the mix, you need to calibrate your ear positioning in order to increase spatial accuracy.
Humans have basically fixed ears, which means we cannot change their location or position. We can distort them, but that takes time and the brain is plastic enough to compensate. Thus in humans we
and It Rewires the Brain (Score:2)
Did they start daydreaming their future? /s
cf "Stories of Your Life"
Many methods (Score:5, Funny)
Whenever I fart it's easy to work out where my family are from the various disgusted noises.
It's not that difficult (Score:3)
You're never going to be as good as a bat or a dolphin, but try going into a quiet room and walking as close to a wall as possible with your eyes closed.
You don't even need the clicks - just the changes in ambient sound will let you know.
Re: (Score:3)
Actually, your skin has infrared sensors, so you can sense when you're really close to something but not touching it. But that's limited to a few inches.
Re: (Score:2)
> But that's limited to a few inches.
For infrared sensors, it depends how hot the object is.
That's batty! (Score:2)
N/A
Re:Only if you are desperate. (Score:4, Insightful)
Somebody didn't read the summary.
Re: (Score:2)
> If you are not blind, this goes from a necessity to a hobby and it becomes very difficult to learn, almost impossible
It's not impossible, it takes 10 weeks.
Re: (Score:2)
It's worth mentioning that everything you learn rewires your brain. This one rewires it in the hearing/vision parts of your brain, but every time you learn something, your brain gets rewired a bit.
All you need (Score:2)
is a guy called Stick to teach you how.
echobaiting (Score:2)
> Strikingly, the scans showed that the V1s of both blind and sighted people had developed sensitivity to sound echoes during echolocation training.
this is the whole point of the study, checking if those areas specific to vision exhibit plasticity both in blind and sighted people. we already suspected that, so that's another valuable data point, but is hardly "striking". we have known about neuroplasticity for over a century, and humans have been using echolocation probably since forever.
wtf is e-chocolate?!? (Score:2)
Oh, wait...
One ping (Score:4, Funny)
One ping only, Vasily.
I really must try to learn this (Score:2)
Will never be Batman or Spiderman but perhaps i can be sorta Daredevil
Echolocation is a fascinating skill (Score:5, Interesting)
That humans have sufficiently directional hearing is perhaps the most impressive part. Once you have that, then the rest really just follows,
However, this continues the unexpected senses in humans, one of the first discovered was that humans have a weak magnetic sense.
The potential, both in fact (if you can "see" walls and gaps by clicking then you can presumably navigate a cave even if your light source goes out) and in fiction (this one should really be obvious), is considerable.
Re: Echolocation is a fascinating skill (Score:3)
Daredevil confirmed
Re: (Score:3)
He's real...ly impressive
from 2011
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeFRkAYb1uk
Re: (Score:3)
I suppose it would explain how ancient hominins were comfortable enough to go as far back in caves as they did when your best light source would've been a small flame of some kind, if any. I'll sometimes navigate rooms without turning the lights on and figured it was knowing the room and propioception but perhaps subconscious awareness of some of these weak senses plays a role.
Ben Underwood (Score:5, Interesting)
always remembered this kid from early YT:
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBv79LKfMt4
Re: (Score:2)
I've clapped my hands in the dark to know if there's a wall in front of me. Seems to be instinctive to try this, though I didn't practice enough to call it a skill. Did anyone else have the instinct to try this without having been told?