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It’s all down to practise

Do the blind have a better sense of touch because the brain compensates for vision loss or because of heavy reliance on their fingertips? The answer is a daily dependence on touch, according to researchers at McMaster University.

The study tested the tactile sensitivity of fingers and lips for blind and normally sighted adults. It found that blind people’s fingers were more sensitive than sighted participants, and within the blind group, those that read Braille were the most sensitive (on the fingers they use for reading).

If a better sense of touch was the result of compensation by the brain, than the blind should experience greater sensitivity in all body areas, but, both blind and sighted participants performed equally when their lips sensitivity was tested.

Read more at McMaster University

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