Mental Imagery in Dreams of Congenitally Blind People

Jungwoo Kang; Rita Bertani; Kausar Raheel; Matthew Soteriou; Jan Rosenzweig; Antonio Valentin; Peter J. Goadsby; Masoud Tahmasian; Rosalyn Moran; Katarina Ilic; Adam Ockelford; Ivana Rosenzweig; Luigi De Gennaro; Maurizio Gorgoni

doi:10.3390/brainsci13101394

Mental Imagery in Dreams of Congenitally Blind People

Jungwoo Kang, Rita Bertani, Kausar Raheel, Matthew Soteriou, Jan Rosenzweig, Antonio Valentin, Peter J. Goadsby, Masoud Tahmasian, Rosalyn Moran, Katarina Ilic, Adam Ockelford, Ivana Rosenzweig, Luigi De Gennaro (Editor), Maurizio Gorgoni (Editor)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

It is unclear to what extent the absence of vision affects the sensory sensitivity for oneiric construction. Similarly, the presence of visual imagery in the mentation of dreams of congenitally blind people has been largely disputed. We investigate the presence and nature of oneiric visuo-spatial impressions by analysing 180 dreams of seven congenitally blind people identified from the online database DreamBank. A higher presence of auditory, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory sensation in dreams of congenitally blind people was demonstrated, when compared to normally sighted individuals. Nonetheless, oneiric visual imagery in reports of congenitally blind subjects was also noted, in opposition to some previous studies, and raising questions about the possible underlying neuro-mechanisms.

Original language	English
Journal	Brain Sciences
Volume	13
Issue number	10
Early online date	30 Sept 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13101394
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 30 Sept 2023

Keywords

congenitally blind
cross-modal plasticity
dream

Access to Document

10.3390/brainsci13101394

Cite this

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title = "Mental Imagery in Dreams of Congenitally Blind People",

abstract = "It is unclear to what extent the absence of vision affects the sensory sensitivity for oneiric construction. Similarly, the presence of visual imagery in the mentation of dreams of congenitally blind people has been largely disputed. We investigate the presence and nature of oneiric visuo-spatial impressions by analysing 180 dreams of seven congenitally blind people identified from the online database DreamBank. A higher presence of auditory, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory sensation in dreams of congenitally blind people was demonstrated, when compared to normally sighted individuals. Nonetheless, oneiric visual imagery in reports of congenitally blind subjects was also noted, in opposition to some previous studies, and raising questions about the possible underlying neuro-mechanisms.",

keywords = "congenitally blind, cross-modal plasticity, dream",

author = "Jungwoo Kang and Rita Bertani and Kausar Raheel and Matthew Soteriou and Jan Rosenzweig and Antonio Valentin and Goadsby, {Peter J.} and Masoud Tahmasian and Rosalyn Moran and Katarina Ilic and Adam Ockelford and Ivana Rosenzweig and {De Gennaro}, Luigi and Maurizio Gorgoni",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Mental Imagery in Dreams of Congenitally Blind People

AU - Kang, Jungwoo

AU - Bertani, Rita

AU - Raheel, Kausar

AU - Soteriou, Matthew

AU - Rosenzweig, Jan

AU - Valentin, Antonio

AU - Goadsby, Peter J.

AU - Tahmasian, Masoud

AU - Moran, Rosalyn

AU - Ilic, Katarina

AU - Ockelford, Adam

AU - Rosenzweig, Ivana

A2 - De Gennaro, Luigi

A2 - Gorgoni, Maurizio

PY - 2023/9/30

Y1 - 2023/9/30

N2 - It is unclear to what extent the absence of vision affects the sensory sensitivity for oneiric construction. Similarly, the presence of visual imagery in the mentation of dreams of congenitally blind people has been largely disputed. We investigate the presence and nature of oneiric visuo-spatial impressions by analysing 180 dreams of seven congenitally blind people identified from the online database DreamBank. A higher presence of auditory, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory sensation in dreams of congenitally blind people was demonstrated, when compared to normally sighted individuals. Nonetheless, oneiric visual imagery in reports of congenitally blind subjects was also noted, in opposition to some previous studies, and raising questions about the possible underlying neuro-mechanisms.

AB - It is unclear to what extent the absence of vision affects the sensory sensitivity for oneiric construction. Similarly, the presence of visual imagery in the mentation of dreams of congenitally blind people has been largely disputed. We investigate the presence and nature of oneiric visuo-spatial impressions by analysing 180 dreams of seven congenitally blind people identified from the online database DreamBank. A higher presence of auditory, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory sensation in dreams of congenitally blind people was demonstrated, when compared to normally sighted individuals. Nonetheless, oneiric visual imagery in reports of congenitally blind subjects was also noted, in opposition to some previous studies, and raising questions about the possible underlying neuro-mechanisms.

KW - congenitally blind

KW - cross-modal plasticity

KW - dream

U2 - 10.3390/brainsci13101394

DO - 10.3390/brainsci13101394

M3 - Article

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