It turns out that our brain is far more flexible than we thought. Its plasticity may be responsible for the evolutionary success of Homo sapiens. The research conducted by JU psychologists seems to confirm this thesis.
For nine months, the participants of the research (people with no visual impairment) learned to read Braille. During this time, the scientists have scanned their brains to determine which parts are used throughout the process of reading. The research team, led by Dr hab. Marcin Szwed from the JU Institute of Psychology, aimed to discover what happens in the brain of non-visually impaired subjects who learn to read with their fingers instead of eyes. The fundamental question underlying these analyses was: is the human brain divided strictly into centres responsible for functioning of particular senses, or can some parts take over and perform the roles of others?
A short description of these analyses, realised within the framework of EU METABRAILLE project, can be found in the Horizon journal.
"We have discovered that when a subject reads Braille, the visual cortex of the brain is still more active than areas related to the sense of touch", Dr hab. Marcin Szwed explained. It was confirmed by an experiment in which the visual cortex was temporarily "turned off", which resulted in trouble with reading Braille (in non-visually impaired subjects).
The findings of this research may be interpreted in a broader context. It may mean that our brains possess a greater degree of plasticity than we thought. This could prove to be the source of our ability to learn complex actions, such as driving a car or playing the piano.
Original text: www.nauka.uj.edu.pl
