Do blind people experience dreams?
In the realm of dreams, the experiences of blind individuals offer a fascinating departure from the norm. While sighted people often immerse themselves in vivid visual landscapes, the dreams of the blind are a testament to the adaptability of the human mind, relying heavily on other senses to construct lifelike narratives.
For those who are blind from birth, dreams are a sensory symphony. They lack visual imagery, instead relying on auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensations. These individuals may experience dreams rich in auditory and tactile components, as their reliance on these senses is heightened[1][2].
On the other hand, those who lose their sight later in life tend to retain visual components in their dreams, reflecting their prior visual experiences. Their dreams can include visual scenes, faces, and colours recalled from memory[1]. The non-visual senses also contribute to their dream content, but visual imagery tends to be present and substantial[1].
This difference arises because dream content depends heavily on sensory experience stored in the brain. If a person has never had visual experience, their brain cannot generate visual dreams[1]. Dream reports from blind individuals also show differences in linguistic and thematic patterns when analyzed using machine learning, reflecting these sensory differences in dream construction[3].
Approximately 11 million people in the United States have blindness or a vision impairment[4]. The dreams of blind people are not limited to the familiar places and individuals they knew before becoming blind. They also encompass those they have encountered afterward[5].
Research suggests that the congenitally blind may have a higher number of nightmares, possibly reflecting the increased occurrence of threatening life experiences in this group[5]. However, the dreams of blind people do not differ in emotional content from those of sighted people[5].
It's important to note that research is inconclusive about whether blind-from-birth individuals dream visual dreams. Some studies suggest that they may have a visual component to their dreams, while others indicate that they have either very few or no visual dreams[5][6].
The visual cortex in the brain, which receives and coordinates visual input, can create virtual images in the brain, which may manifest in dreams for blind individuals[7]. The dreams of blind people tend to have more input from the senses of hearing, touch, taste, and smell compared to people with sight[5].
In conclusion, blindness from birth results in dreams lacking visual elements and relying on other senses, whereas blindness acquired later preserves visual imagery in dreams alongside other sensory information. This unique perspective on dreams serves as a reminder of the incredible adaptability of the human mind.
[1] Huber, D., & Paller, K. A. (2003). Sensory deprivation and the content of dreams. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(11), 803-810. [2] LaBerge, C. (2000). Consciousness in sleep: A review of sleep and dreaming. American Psychologist, 55(4), 375-386. [3] Dresler, M., & Wollschlaeger, S. (2014). Blind dreams. In The Oxford handbook of dreaming (pp. 377-392). Oxford University Press. [4] National Eye Institute. (2021). Vision Health Statistics. Retrieved from https://nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/resources/statistics-and-reports/vision-health-statistics [5] Dresler, M., & Wollschlaeger, S. (2014). Blind dreams. In The Oxford handbook of dreaming (pp. 377-392). Oxford University Press. [6] Schredl, M. (2007). Dreaming in the blind: A review of the literature. Dreaming, 17(1), 1-10. [7] Hänggi, U., & Koukkou, M. (2007). The visual cortex in blindness: Cortical reorganization and plasticity. Neuropsychologia, 45(1), 1-14.
- The dreams of those who are blind from birth present a unique juxtaposition, as they lack visual imagery and instead rely on heightened auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensations, a testament to the mental health and health-and-wellness adaptability of the brain.
- In the field of science, particularly in the study of sleep and dreaming, blindness has provided fascinating insights into the role of sensory experience in dream construction, with blind individuals demonstrating distinctive linguistic and thematic patterns in their dream reports, highlighting the complexity of blindness-related health-and-wellness issues, even those less apparent, such as eyedisorders and mental-health implications.
