[Sportsandrec] Spatial Development

[JUSTIN LOUCHART]

Hi,

This isn't necessarily new information, but still useful. This is
exactly why WAFTB advocates so strongly for a perceptually-based
approach in O and M. Without fully integrating the visual system of
the brain, we see a lack of spatial conception across the board.

Thanks for the forward,

Justin

On 1/16/13, Jody Ianuzzi <jody at thewhitehats.com> wrote:
> This is interesting:
>
> Researchers uncover new understanding of brain's early spatial development.
>
> 10 January 2013.
>
> Researchers from our Department of Psychology have uncovered a new
> understanding of how the brain develops its sense of space by working with
> blind people.
>
> The researchers found that people who lose their sight later in life use a
> different method of following directions to those who are born without
> sight.
>
> This means that the brain needs to have a visual experience early on in
> life
> in order to build a visual perspective, or frame of reference, to know what
> is where.
>
> The researchers carried out a study with participants including those who
> were congenitally blind; those who became blind later in life; and others
> who were sighted, to learn which methods the different groups used to
> remember where things are.
>
> The study revealed that people who have been sighted and then become blind
> use an 'allocentric' reference frame, meaning they remember locations as
> they are positioned relative to one another, and this is the same as
> sighted
> people who do this task, even when blindfolded.
>
> In contrast congenitally blind participants preferred an 'egocentric'
> reference
> frame meaning they first remember a starting point at home and then store a
> memory of the locations from the home location.
>
> Dr Michael Proulx who led the study said the results help us to understand
> more about the role of a critical period for developmental vision on
> spatial
> cognition and brain organisation.
>
> He said: "In our study we were curious as to whether having visual
> experience during child development was key to creating the structures in
> the brain to support such an allocentric reference frame. First we found an
> interesting difference between the congenitally blind and sighted people:
> although the sighted people preferred the allocentric, reference frame, the
> congenitally blind participants preferred the self-centred or egocentric
> reference frame for remembering locations.
>
> "The important piece of the puzzle, however, was whether the late blind
> people would perform like the congenitally blind, showing that current
> visual experience matters, or like the sighted, showing the role of early
> visual experience. The results were clear: the late blind performed the
> same
> as the sighted participants. Therefore having the experience of vision
> early
> in life lays the groundwork in the brain for the representation of
> locations
> in a different reference frame than that found in people who never had
> visual experience."
>
> All of the participants of the study were blindfolded and then walked to
> the
> locations of objects in a large room. They were later tested on a computer
> with a virtual pointing task that asked them to remember objects in the
> room
> relative to the other object locations.
>
> Dr Proulx and his colleagues are following up this finding with additional
> research to investigate how additional information, such as the texture or
> sound of the environment, might influence the frame of reference used.
>
> This would allow for improved maps rendered in Braille or sound to be
> produced for visually impaired persons to use in public places, such as
> rail
> stations, or in new cities.
>
> They are also examining the impact of visual experience on the neural basis
> for spatial learning and memory by examining how the congenitally blind and
> late blind brains represent spatial information in the absence of vision.
>
> The full paper, Visual experience facilitates allocentric spatial
> representation is published in the journal Behavioural Brain Research.
>
> Source URL:
> http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2013/01/10/spatialdevelopment/
>
>
>
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-- 
Justin Louchart
JALOUCHART at GMAIL.COM

Inveniam Viam Aut Faciam