Found This Interesting, Blind People Cannot See Dreams

[Saint_Michael 3]

https://answers.yahoo.com/

I just caught this by accident put a person had ask a question about if Blind people can see dreams. Of course I thought they did but in reality they cannot.

Here is the reason why

No, they wouldn't. Visual stimulus is necessary for the wiring of the brain centers that process and interpret vision. The way the brain works is to develop, early in life, a huge number of neural synapses (connection points between neurons that are used in cell-to-cell signalling). As you grow and learn, these synapses are pared away to make the brain function efficiently, and that's the central basis of long-term learning. However, if the brain or any part of it fails to get infromation from hard-wired inputs, then that part of the brain will atrophy (at best, fringe areas of a cortical region might be adopted by adjacent cortical regions for different processes). But the take-away message here is that the brain needs visual stimulus in order to devolp the cortical regions that process vision. In the use-it-or-lose-it sense, the brain will not waste energy building and maintaining processes that aren't used. The optical cortex would never know how to function as an optical cortex in a person born blind.

Now if I got this right, it means since the nerves of the eyes are not connected to the brain, they cannot receive the signals the brain is giving for the eyes to look at what they see. Which means when I blind person dreams they only can smell, feel and hear the dream. Now talk about learning something new and cool as well. In the sense that if you lose your eye sight you actually lose the ability to see your dreams.

[juice 0]

That clears things up. I would have thought that they don't dream at all since they have never seen anything before (blind from birth) but it does make sense that they can still feel, hear and smell in the dream - anything but sight.

[cipher123 0]

That's really interesting. I wonder if they still hear what's going on in the dreams.I also would be interested to know whether blind people have a 'mind's eye'. So, if you asked them to imagine an apple sitting on a plate in front o them, would they be able to see it in their heads?Hmmmm, I wonder how you describe a colour to a blind person...

[Spyda 0]

Of course because you only dream what you see and if they cannot see anything than their dreams will be black and dull and maybe horrid. Like Helen Keller, she was blind and deaf so her dreams would be both dark and soundless. Horrid though ain't it!

[EndlessHate 0]

Yea, Few years ago (grade 8) we did some research on this subject and it really interested me. touche and smell does make sence but i think a big thing about dreams is our amagination so what every you can think up you can pretty much put into a dream. i know ive had dreams that had images that ive never seen, heard of or even thought could be possible.

[master_bacarra 0]

actually that assumes the idea that the blind person was blind since birth. not all blind people happen to be blind since the day they were born, so you could say that it doesn't apply to all.what's more interesting, rather is if a person dreams in color. or does his other senses work in a dream, like smelling something in a dream.

Edited January 7, 2007 by mbacarra (see edit history)

[EndlessHate 0]

Also cant blind people see shadows and shape figures? Wouldnt they be able to put that into aspect of there dreams?

[shadowx 0]

Also cant blind people see shadows and shape figures? Wouldnt they be able to put that into aspect of there dreams?

If they are blind then they cant see anything, though if they have impaired vision they can see but it is limited so if they are so limited that they can only see shadowy figures then i assume they would see shadowy figures unless as previously touched on, they were able to see at some point in their life in which case they would be able to see in their dreams as they could recall the images from when they could see.

[truefusion 3]

Which means when I blind person dreams they only can smell, feel and hear the dream.

I don't see how the other three senses can come into play. I mean, what's the point? No picture, no sound. You shouldn't feel anything if you don't see anything touch you in your dream. You shouldn't smell anything, either, if you don't see anything that could induce such a sense. I don't think the brain would even bother producing such senses while asleep.

[Saint_Michael 3]

Well the only way to explain how people would be touch, would be erotic dreams. Everyone has them and their bodies feel the sensations they have in their dreams and in a sense their bodies believe they are actually have sex.Sound and smell are a lot harder to explain, but my best guess with sound, would be the electric impulses the brain creates that activate the ear in some sort of way.Smell I think the only way that could be explain if your brain remembers that smell, IE: smelly flowers in a flower garden. Then during your dreams in some weird way it conjures up that flower/s and that you remember.Now about that post about if you can see colors in your dream. I would say depending how you mind works you could have both black and white and colored dreams. I had my share of both.I agree with shadowx that only impaired could see shadows, of course color blind people can only see shadows of that specific group of colors as well. However in the post about hooking up a computer to someone's eyes that computer could generate a rough image of what it sees. So the problem would be able to see depth in those images.

[matak 2]

That clears things up. I would have thought that they don't dream at all since they have never seen anything before (blind from birth) but it does make sense that they can still feel, hear and smell in the dream - anything but sight.

actually that assumes the idea that the blind person was blind since birth. not all blind people happen to be blind since the day they were born, so you could say that it doesn't apply to all.
what's more interesting, rather is if a person dreams in color. or does his other senses work in a dream, like smelling something in a dream.

I agree with these assumptions, couse it is logical if you ever saw anything, and then lost your vision you will still always remember the colors, even more to that i belive like

I also would be interested to know whether blind people have a 'mind's eye'. So, if you asked them to imagine an apple sitting on a plate in front o them, would they be able to see it in their heads?Hmmmm, I wonder how you describe a colour to a blind person...

said that there is a "minds eye", and that nerves don't impact on dreams, couse they are not connected in that direct way.
Most simple thing is that how do you dream, and do you really "see" in a dream! You only visualize, and feel that you are somewhere but you don't actually see it. Basicly we enjoy in our dreams only beacouse of our senses belive that we are enjoying. Just like when you are reading a good book (i cant make analogy with movies ), you read but visualize that what you are reading. And when you feel wall, a face you don't need a colour to tell you is the wall cold or warm, is it wood or concrete, you don't need to see someones face to realize is the face beautiful or not. Your mind sees it as it is, as you feel it.

and dreams are all just feelings so you don't need to be blind in order to see

[truefusion 3]

Well the only way to explain how people would be touch, would be erotic dreams. Everyone has them and their bodies feel the sensations they have in their dreams and in a sense their bodies believe they are actually have sex.

[1]They are only erotic if you can see it. I mean, do people get "excited" over a black screen; nothingness?

 

Sound and smell are a lot harder to explain, but my best guess with sound, would be the electric impulses the brain creates that activate the ear in some sort of way.

 

Smell I think the only way that could be explain if your brain remembers that smell, IE: smelly flowers in a flower garden. Then during your dreams in some weird way it conjures up that flower/s and that you remember.

This relates to [1]. What does nothing smell like? What does nothing feel like? Nothing you can see, just pure blackness—at least in my opinion. In this sense, the blind do have dreams! They dream about nothing!

[Albus Dumbledore 0]

Hmm, i could completley understand why blind people who were born without the ability to see anything would not be able to dream, because they have never seen anything therefor they have nothing to visually represent things in their dreams.

 

But i have two blind people in my family, they are both my cousins, and one can see if he gets 6inches from the object he wants to see, but my other cousin is completley blind, and he has taught me to use my other senses, hearing, touchiing, smelling etc to get a visiual effect of things. And he has told me that when he was in his teens what he did to get a visual effect on things was to touch them. so if he was presented with a chair, he could feel it everywhere and tell you it was a chair. and if it was a person, he could feel thait face and tell you what they looked like, (long nose, short nose, hair length, lips, etc... maybe not color wise, but he could tell you what they look like.

 

Now i think that with that in hand, some blind people who have a creative enough imagination cant they self consciencely in their dreams come up with a somewhat of a visual figure to base this person or thing off of.... because my cousin has told me he has had many of dreams and told us what it was like.

 

In the sense that if you lose your eye sight you actually lose the ability to see your dreams.

 

EVen if the fact that blind people cannot dream because they cant see is true, people who have LOST their vision would still have the visual impression in their mind... right?

[master_bacarra 0]

who says people don't dream? a person dreams almost every sleep. a dream occurs during the last few parts of sleep, but not everyone remembers the dream thus they assume that they have not dreamt at all.with regards to the topic, even if a person is blind, the part of the brain that doesn't function anymore is taken over by other senses, thus blind people have heightened hearing, smelling, or touching. that part of the brain doesn't really go to waste. and through the other senses, a blind person can describe something or someone perhaps using his other senses. so it doesn't really necessarily mean that they have lost their sight, so they can't see their dreams.with regards to the other senses in dreams, yes it does happen. but it's more like the brain doing all the stuff. dreaming of smelling a garden of flowers would probably be the work of the brain "thinking" that you're in a real garden. hearing and touching can also occur. thus when a person remembers a dream, he remembers it more clearly with the help of the other senses that he experiences during the dream. which goes back to the topic of whether a blind sees his own dream, which also goes back to my explanation.