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ScienceQuiet 5d · day 10

UK study shows early deafness rewires brain for enhanced peripheral vision

Brain imaging reveals deaf adults allocate more neural resources to edges of visual field, using sight as early-warning system.

newest coverage 4d agosummary written 9d ago10 pieces2 likes & upvotes MastodonNewswiresRedditGoogle NewsHacker News

What to know

  • Brain-imaging study of 16 deaf and 16 hearing adults reveals early-deaf individuals allocate more neural resources to peripheral vision, not central vision.
  • Neural rewiring begins at the lateral geniculate nucleus—a relay station before signals reach the primary visual cortex—suggesting plasticity occurs early in the visual pathway.
  • The reorganization reflects sensory adaptation: deaf people rely on vision as an early-warning system for movement and hazards, compensating for lack of auditory cues.
  • LGN activity showed bias toward periphery in deaf participants, but no difference in LGN volume between groups, indicating functional rather than structural change.

“Indeed, D/deaf adults exhibit superior performance in peripheral tasks involving detection or attention to transient or moving targets.”

Study researchers, Authors of PNAS study · ScienceAlert ↗

UK psychologists and neuroscientists (team) Study authors

UK study shows early deafness rewires brain for enhanced peripheral vision
sciencealert.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

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Sep 14Sep 15Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22now · 6:44 AM ET
  1. 1

    UK researchers publish findings on deafness-related visual rewiring in PNAS

    A team of psychologists and neuroscientists in the UK published a brain-imaging study showing that adults with early, profound deafness devote more of their early visual system to peripheral vision. Using structural and functional MRI on 16 deaf adults and 16 hearing controls, they mapped neural response across visual fields and found the reorganization occurs at the lateral geniculate nucleus, before signals reach the brain's main vision center.

    “Without sound cues, deaf people use vision as an 'early warning system' for peripheral events.”
    — Study researchers
    1. 2 outlets Lifelong Deafness Could Rewire a Person's Peripheral Vision

      first by ScienceAlert, 9d ago · also Google News · Health

      1 more headline
    2. 1 outlet Early deafness may reshape the brain to devote more resources to peripheral vision

      first by Medical Xpress, 9d ago

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets Brain adapts to give deaf people a better visual 'danger radar'

    first by Medical Xpress, 4d ago · also University of Sheffield

and 1 smaller piece