Research has shown that people who are born blind or become blind early in life often have a more nuanced sense of hearing, especially when it comes to musical abilities and tracking moving objects in space.
For decades scientists have wondered what changes in the brain might underlie these enhanced auditory abilities. Now, two research papers published from the University of Washington, use functional MRI to identify two differences in the brains of blind individuals that might be responsible for their abilities to make better use of auditory information.