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Outputs (53)

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.

Multisensory perception and decision-making with a new sensory skill (2023)
Journal Article
Negen, J., Bird, L., Slater, H., Thaler, L., & Nardini, M. (2023). Multisensory perception and decision-making with a new sensory skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 49(5), 600-622. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001114

It is clear that people can learn a new sensory skill – a new way of mapping sensory inputs onto world states. It remains unclear how flexibly a new sensory skill can become embedded in multisensory perception and decision-making. To address this, we... Read More about Multisensory perception and decision-making with a new sensory skill.

6-hour Training in click-based echolocation changes practice in visual impairment professionals (2023)
Journal Article
Thaler, L., Di Gregorio, G., & Foresteire, D. (2023). 6-hour Training in click-based echolocation changes practice in visual impairment professionals. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2023.1098624

Click-based echolocation can support mobility and orientation in people with vision impairments (VI) when used alongside other mobility methods. Only a small number of people with VI use click-based echolocation. Previous research about echolocation... Read More about 6-hour Training in click-based echolocation changes practice in visual impairment professionals.

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.