Audio-Motor Training Enhances Auditory and Proprioceptive Functions in the Blind Adult

• Main Authors: Anna Vera Cuppone, Giulia Cappagli, Monica Gori
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-11-01
• Series: Frontiers in Neuroscience
• Subjects: blindness; training; plasticity; audition; proprioception
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.01272/full

Several reports indicate that spatial perception in blind individuals can be impaired as the lack of visual experience severely affects the development of multisensory spatial correspondences. Despite the growing interest in the development of technological devices to support blind people in their daily lives, very few studies have assessed the benefit of interventions that help to refine sensorimotor perception. In the present study, we directly investigated the impact of a short audio-motor training on auditory and proprioceptive spatial perception in blind individuals. Our findings indicate that auditory and proprioceptive spatial capabilities can be enhanced through interventions designed to foster sensorimotor perception in the form of audio-motor correspondences, demonstrating the importance of the early introduction of sensorimotor training in therapeutic intervention for blind individuals.