Brain's adaptability in blind individuals recognising faces through sound: Study
Scientists at Georgetown University, US, have identified the brain region responsible for blind individuals recognising basic faces using a sensory substitution device. Josef Rauschecker, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Georgetown University, explained that the study tested the plasticity between seeing and hearing by encoding visual patterns into auditory ones using a sensory substitution device. Through fMRI scans, the researchers observed that in blind individuals, the sounds activated the left fusiform face area for facial recognition, while in sighted individuals, facial recognition occurred predominantly in the right fusiform face area. Rauschecker noted that the left/right difference observed in blind and sighted individuals might offer insights into how each side of the fusiform area processes faces, either as connected patterns or separate parts.
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