Blind and sighted people can learn to use echolocation after 10 weeks of training, according to research from Durham University in the United Kingdom.
The technique involves producing clicks with the mouth and listening to the returning echoes to understand the position and shape of nearby objects.
Some people with visual impairments already use echolocation to navigate their surroundings. Instead of mouth clicks, they may also use sounds produced by tapping a cane.
A study published in PLOS One in 2021 found that both blind and sighted participants significantly improved their echolocation skills during the training programme. The findings suggested that the ability was not limited by a person’s age or level of vision.
Researchers Examine Changes in the Brain
Some researchers involved in the original study later examined how echolocation training affected participants’ brains.
The follow-up study, published in Cerebral Cortex in 2024, involved the same 26 participants. The group included 12 blind people and 14 sighted people who completed 10 weeks of click-based echolocation training.
Researchers used MRI scans taken before and after the training to examine functional and structural changes in two areas of the brain.
They focused on the primary visual cortex, known as V1, which normally processes visual information, and the primary auditory cortex, known as A1, which processes sound.
Visual Cortex Became More Responsive to Echoes
After training, both blind and sighted participants showed increased activity in the left and right sides of V1 when listening to echoes.
The researchers also found increased activity in the right A1 when participants heard sounds. Structural scans showed changes in grey-matter density in auditory areas, although these changes differed between the blind and sighted groups.
The findings challenge the idea that parts of the brain responsible for individual senses can process information only from those senses.
Instead, the study suggests that the adult brain can adapt and recruit areas normally associated with vision to help process sound-based spatial information.
The results also indicate that both blind and sighted adults can develop this ability through training.
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