Outputs (21)

Changes in primary visual and auditory cortex of blind and sighted adults following 10 weeks of click-based echolocation training (2024)
Journal Article
Norman, L., Hartley, T., & Thaler, L. (2024). Changes in primary visual and auditory cortex of blind and sighted adults following 10 weeks of click-based echolocation training. Cerebral Cortex, 34(6), https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae239

Recent work suggests that the adult human brain is very adaptable when it comes to sensory processing. In this context, it has also been suggested that structural “blueprints” may fundamentally constrain neuroplastic change, e.g. in response to senso... Read More about Changes in primary visual and auditory cortex of blind and sighted adults following 10 weeks of click-based echolocation training.

Effects of type of emission and masking sound, and their spatial correspondence, on blind and sighted people’s ability to echolocate (2024)
Journal Article
Thaler, L., Castillo-Serrano, J. G., Kish, D., & Norman, L. (2024). Effects of type of emission and masking sound, and their spatial correspondence, on blind and sighted people’s ability to echolocate. Neuropsychologia, 196, Article 108822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108822

Ambient sound can mask acoustic signals. The current study addressed how echolocation in people is affected by masking sound, and the role played by type of sound and spatial (i.e. binaural) similarity. We also investigated the role played by blindne... Read More about Effects of type of emission and masking sound, and their spatial correspondence, on blind and sighted people’s ability to echolocate.

The occipital place area is recruited for echo-acoustically guided navigation in blind human echolocators (2023)
Journal Article
Norman, L. J., & Thaler, L. (2023). The occipital place area is recruited for echo-acoustically guided navigation in blind human echolocators. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(24), 4470-4486. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1402-22.2023

In the investigation of the brain areas involved in human spatial navigation, the traditional focus has been on visually guided navigation in sighted people. Consequently, it is unclear whether involved areas also support navigational abilities in ot... Read More about The occipital place area is recruited for echo-acoustically guided navigation in blind human echolocators.

Human Echolocators Have Better Localization Off Axis (2022)
Journal Article
Thaler, L., Norman, L., De Vos, H., Kish, D., Antoniou, M., Baker, C., & Hornikx, M. (2022). Human Echolocators Have Better Localization Off Axis. Psychological Science, 33(7), 1143-1153. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211068070

Here, we report novel empirical results from a psychophysical experiment in which we tested the echolocation abilities of nine blind adult human experts in click-based echolocation. We found that they had better acuity in localizing a target and used... Read More about Human Echolocators Have Better Localization Off Axis.

No effect of 10-week training in click-based echolocation on auditory localization in people who are blind (2021)
Journal Article
Thaler, L., & Norman, L. J. (2021). No effect of 10-week training in click-based echolocation on auditory localization in people who are blind. Experimental Brain Research, 239(12), 3625-3633. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06230-5

What factors are important in the calibration of mental representations of auditory space? A substantial body of research investigating the audiospatial abilities of people who are blind has shown that visual experience might be an important factor f... Read More about No effect of 10-week training in click-based echolocation on auditory localization in people who are blind.

Human click-based echolocation: Effects of blindness and age, and real-life implications in a 10-week training program (2021)
Journal Article
Norman, L. J., Dodsworth, C., Foresteire, D., & Thaler, L. (2021). Human click-based echolocation: Effects of blindness and age, and real-life implications in a 10-week training program. PLoS ONE, 16(6), Article e0252330. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252330

Understanding the factors that determine if a person can successfully learn a novel sensory skill is essential for understanding how the brain adapts to change, and for providing rehabilitative support for people with sensory loss. We report a traini... Read More about Human click-based echolocation: Effects of blindness and age, and real-life implications in a 10-week training program.

Increased emission intensity can compensate for the presence of noise in human click-based echolocation (2021)
Journal Article
Castillo-Serrano, J., Norman, L., Foresteire, D., & Thaler, L. (2021). Increased emission intensity can compensate for the presence of noise in human click-based echolocation. Scientific Reports, 11(1), Article 1750. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81220-9

Echolocating bats adapt their emissions to succeed in noisy environments. In the present study we investigated if echolocating humans can detect a sound-refecting surface in the presence of noise and if intensity of echolocation emissions (i.e. click... Read More about Increased emission intensity can compensate for the presence of noise in human click-based echolocation.

Perceptual constancy with a novel sensory skill (2020)
Journal Article
Norman, L. J., & Thaler, L. (2021). Perceptual constancy with a novel sensory skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 47(2), 269-281. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000888

Making sense of the world requires perceptual constancy—the stable perception of an object across changes in one’s sensation of it. To investigate whether constancy is intrinsic to perception, we tested whether humans can learn a form of constancy th... Read More about Perceptual constancy with a novel sensory skill.

Stimulus uncertainty affects perception in human echolocation: Timing, level, and spectrum (2020)
Journal Article
Norman, L. J., & Thaler, L. (2020). Stimulus uncertainty affects perception in human echolocation: Timing, level, and spectrum. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(12), 2314-2331. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000775

The human brain may use recent sensory experience to create sensory templates that are then compared to incoming sensory input, that is, “knowing what to listen for.” This can lead to greater perceptual sensitivity, as long as the relevant properties... Read More about Stimulus uncertainty affects perception in human echolocation: Timing, level, and spectrum.

Navigation and Perception of Spatial Layout in Virtual Echo-Acoustic Space (2020)
Journal Article
Dodsworth, C., Norman, L., & Thaler, L. (2020). Navigation and Perception of Spatial Layout in Virtual Echo-Acoustic Space. Cognition, 197, Article 104185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104185

Successful navigation involves finding the way, planning routes, and avoiding collisions. Whilst previous research has shown that people can navigate using non-visual cues, it is not clear to what degree learned non-visual navigational abilities gene... Read More about Navigation and Perception of Spatial Layout in Virtual Echo-Acoustic Space.