Seeing May Not Be Believing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - We know that our brain is very complex and some of the behaviors that we take for granted are far more complicated than they appear. For instance, when someone suffers brain damage from trauma or a stroke, they can have changes in memory, emotion and the ability to move the way they once did.
Now, according to a report in the journal Nature, it has been learned that people who are born blind and have learned to detect things by touch become quite confused if they have their site restored.
Project Prakash is a humanitarian effort in India where very poor who have not had medical care can be treated. Children between eight and seventeen who were born with cataracts and other treatable conditions were given sight producing surgery but for a period of time were not able to match objects they could recognize by touch with those they were able to see. The ability to do this is not innate but a learned behavior.
Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor
