IT’S ALL STARTING TO ‘CLICK’

Miracle blindness trick

For the blind, better navigation might be just a click of the tongue away.

A study from England’s Durham University examined how people with vision loss can navigate with echolocation, a type of sonar used by animals such as dolphins and bats in which they emit sound waves that bounce off objects.

The study, published in the Public Library of Science Journal One, involved blind and sighted participants ages 21 to 79 who were taught to click their tongues as a way of taking in their surroundings. Over the course of 10 weeks, the participants took part in 20 two- to three-hour-long “click echolocation” training sessions outside the lab. During that time, they learned how to make the clicking noise with their tongue, and to use the sounds to help them navigate through mazes with tricky layouts, including corridors with sharp intersections and zigzags.

The participants also figured out how to identify the size and orientation of objects and surfaces in their paths, all following the echoes from their mouth clicks.

During the final weeks, participants tested their skills in new mazes. Researchers observed fewer collisions compared with the beginning of the training, despite participants being asked to move through unfamiliar environments.

Young & old benefit

Researchers noted that echolocators can be taught to “see” their surroundings by tapping into visual parts of the brain, noting that the skill can be developed well into adulthood and even old age.

Indeed, blind people up to age 79 were able to learn the echolocation skill with ease. Older people had no more collisions than their younger counterparts, although the youngsters did finish the mazes faster.

Three months after the study was over, blind participants confirmed that they were still using echolocation techniques, and 10 out of 12 said the skill improved their independence and overall well-being.

As the authors noted: “Training led to remarkable behavioral changes for all participants.”