It's already known that people who lack one of five basic senses often learn how to use what they have better.
A new study shows that blind people also tend to feel their heartbeat way better than those individuals who can see.
Let's find out more.
An unusual discovery
Blind individuals possess a remarkable ability to sense their own heartbeats, according to a new study by specialists from Karolinska Institutet and Jagiellonian University.
Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, the study highlights how blindness enhances the perception of internal bodily signals.
Participants included over 30 blind and sighted individuals who were asked to count their own heartbeats without external aids while their heart rates were monitored.
The test revealed that blind participants displayed significantly greater accuracy in perceiving their heartbeats, scoring an average of 0.78 compared to the sighted group's average of 0.63.
Now we know more about how our brain adapts to difficulties
These findings shed light on the brain's adaptability when one sense is lost, allowing other senses to compensate.
The researchers suggest that this heightened ability to perceive heartbeats may impact emotional experiences, as heart signals are closely linked to emotions.
Further research will explore the structural changes in the visual cortex of blind individuals to understand the increased sensitivity to internal body signals.
