Humans Can Learn To Echolocate In Just 10 Weeks, and It Rewires the Brain (sciencealert.com) 40
alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: A study published in PLOS One in 2021 by researchers from Durham University in the UK showed that with 10 weeks of training, both blind and sighted people could learn to echolocate using verbal clicks. While the technique is already used by a number of people with impaired vision -- sometimes using the taps of a cane instead of clicks made by their mouth -- those findings suggest that many of us can learn the necessary techniques.
Some of the same researchers who made that discovery are part of the team behind a follow-up study published in Cerebral Cortex, looking at how the 10 weeks of training that the 26 participants went through actually changed the physical structure of their brains. Specifically, the team analyzed brain scans of the V1 (the primary visual cortex, processing visuals), and the A1 (the primary auditory cortex, processing sounds). Strikingly, the scans showed that the V1s of both blind and sighted people had developed sensitivity to sound echoes during echolocation training.
Some of the same researchers who made that discovery are part of the team behind a follow-up study published in Cerebral Cortex, looking at how the 10 weeks of training that the 26 participants went through actually changed the physical structure of their brains. Specifically, the team analyzed brain scans of the V1 (the primary visual cortex, processing visuals), and the A1 (the primary auditory cortex, processing sounds). Strikingly, the scans showed that the V1s of both blind and sighted people had developed sensitivity to sound echoes during echolocation training.
Echolocation is a fascinating skill (Score:5, Interesting)
That humans have sufficiently directional hearing is perhaps the most impressive part. Once you have that, then the rest really just follows,
However, this continues the unexpected senses in humans, one of the first discovered was that humans have a weak magnetic sense.
The potential, both in fact (if you can "see" walls and gaps by clicking then you can presumably navigate a cave even if your light source goes out) and in fiction (this one should really be obvious), is considerable.
Re: Echolocation is a fascinating skill (Score:3)
Re: Echolocation is a fascinating skill (Score:5, Interesting)
He's real...ly impressive
from 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Died in 2009 (Score:2)
from 2011
It should be noted that the cancer that took Underwood's eyes relapsed and he died in 2009.
Re: (Score:2)
damn, that sucks.
poor kid but he was an inspiration
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Ben Underwood (Score:5, Interesting)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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I've clapped my hands in the dark to know if there's a wall in front of me. Seems to be instinctive to try this, though I didn't practice enough to call it a skill. Did anyone else have the instinct to try this without having been told?
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This is mostly old news. The fact that blind people can echolocate has been known for centuries. This study reveals some interesting details about the neurological impact, though.
Re:Echolocation is a fascinating skill (Score:4, Informative)
It still won't stop you from being eaten by a grue.
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You use the can of grue repellant in the lake to get past those.
Human hearing is amazing (Score:5, Informative)
This is simply using our amazing ability to spatially locate sounds. We can spatially locate sounds in front of us side-to-side with an accuracy of around 1 degree. That's pretty incredible. For comparison, cats and dogs cannot spatially locate sounds with nearly that accuracy (about 5 degrees for cats, 8 degrees for dogs), even though they can physically pan their ears around to focus sound collection where they want.
To give an idea of just how incredible that is, 1 degree accuracy means that a sound (or echo) from 20 feet away can be determined with 4 inches accuracy side to side (or in metric, an object 6 meters away can be located to 11 centimeters accuracy).
Using this innate ability for echolocation just makes sense.
Re:Human hearing is amazing (Score:5, Interesting)
It's likely because dogs and cats can adjust their ears likely leads to their lowered spatial accuracy - because moving their ears around adds a new wrinkle to determining location - the ear position.
And when you add that to the mix, you need to calibrate your ear positioning in order to increase spatial accuracy.
Humans have basically fixed ears, which means we cannot change their location or position. We can distort them, but that takes time and the brain is plastic enough to compensate. Thus in humans we do not have to figure out which way our ears are pointed to figure out the location - the ears are fixed and if we wish to maintain audio clarity as an object moves we have to move our heads. Meanwhile our four-legged companions merely swivel their ears to focus on a sound - they do not need to rotate their heads. But they also lack a calibration or feedback mechanism that would tell them how far their ears have moved.
It is because we cannot move our ears to focus audio without moving our heads that lead to the better spatial accuracy. It's why duplicating it with artificial sources is so hard - the brain takes in a lot of information based on the way the head interacts with the audio to figure out where the sound is. This is what is called the Head-Related Transfer Function, or HRTF. The shape of your ears, your head, even your hair all shape the sound in very unique ways, and your brain, having grown with you, has figured out how your individual HRTF affects the sound.
Meanwhile, your pet's HRTF changes every time they move their ears. Maybe less so for floppy eared pets over erect ears (think labrador versus say, a husky) but it changes
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The calibration/feedback mechanism that tells them how far their ears have moved is proprioception.
I'd imagine a bigger issue is there isn't as much separate sound between ears mounted on top of a head compared to human ears mounted on the sides of the head, our ears get rather different sounds depending on direction, whereas the difference for top ear mounted animals is less significant, but I'm no expert.
and It Rewires the Brain (Score:2)
Did they start daydreaming their future? /s
cf "Stories of Your Life"
Many methods (Score:5, Funny)
It's not that difficult (Score:4, Interesting)
You're never going to be as good as a bat or a dolphin, but try going into a quiet room and walking as close to a wall as possible with your eyes closed.
You don't even need the clicks - just the changes in ambient sound will let you know.
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But that's limited to a few inches.
For infrared sensors, it depends how hot the object is.
That's batty! (Score:3)
Re:Only if you are desperate. (Score:5, Insightful)
Somebody didn't read the summary.
Re:Only if you are desperate. (Score:4, Funny)
If you are not blind, this goes from a necessity to a hobby and it becomes very difficult to learn, almost impossible
It's not impossible, it takes 10 weeks.
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All you need (Score:2)
is a guy called Stick to teach you how.
echobaiting (Score:2)
Strikingly, the scans showed that the V1s of both blind and sighted people had developed sensitivity to sound echoes during echolocation training.
this is the whole point of the study, checking if those areas specific to vision exhibit plasticity both in blind and sighted people. we already suspected that, so that's another valuable data point, but is hardly "striking". we have known about neuroplasticity for over a century, and humans have been using echolocation probably since forever.
wtf is e-chocolate?!? (Score:3, Funny)
One ping (Score:5, Funny)
One ping only, Vasily.
I really must try to learn this (Score:2)
Will never be Batman or Spiderman but perhaps i can be sorta Daredevil
Just one question: (Score:2)
how soon before I can start eating insects?
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You can start any time. Many cultures around the world eat insects and have for generations. Even in the US, county fairs have offered "delicacies" like chocolate-covered ants for years. Authentic Mexican restaurants sometimes serve "ant mole".
So go ahead, dig in!
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Shrimp is bugs. You can ease into the land shrimp from there.
Oh No! (Score:2)
Clickers are real??? It this how real life The Last of Us begins????
Oh (Score:2)
Oh. I read that as e-chocolate. Sounds nice, but how?
V1 and auditory signals (Score:2)
It's been known for a while that V1 carries auditory signals and primary auditory cortex carries visual signals:
https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/... [repec.org]
These brain regions are named less for a unique function and more for the research interests of the scientists who name them.