Blind 'develop brilliant memories'
Updated on 21 June 2007
People who are blind at birth compensate for their disability by developing brilliant memories, scientists have said.
In particular, they are good at remembering things in the right order, research has shown.
Scientists tested the performance of 19 congenitally blind individuals and compared them with a normally sighted group.
The volunteers were given two kinds of task designed to test "item" and "serial" memory.
In the first, they were asked to identify 20 words from a list they heard. In the serial memory tasks, they not only had to remember words, but also their position in a list.
Blind participants recalled more words than sighted, indicating a better overall memory.
But their special talent was the ability to remember long word sequences in the right order.
Dr Ehud Zohary, who conducted the research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, said: "Our opinion is that the superior serial memory of the blind is most likely a result of practice.
"In the absence of vision, the world is experienced as a sequence of events. Since the blind constantly use serial-memory strategies in everyday circumstances, they tend to develop superior skills."
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
