Vison, Hearing and the Brain

Seeing is believing….or is it? According to a study from the University of Glasgow, vision depends on hearing in order to make correct decisions. The study suggests that auditory input enables the visual system to predict incoming information and could confer a survival advantage. Like if you hear roaring, you expect to see a lion or tiger, not a rabbit. If you hear squeaking while you are crossing the street, you think you’re going to see a bicycle and not a motorcycle.

According to Lars Muckli, PhD of the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow, “This research enhances our basic understanding of how interconnected different regions of the brain are. The early visual cortex hasn’t previously been known to process auditory information and while there is some anatomical evidence of interconnectedness in monkeys, our study is the first to clearly show a relationship in humans…..This might provide insights into mental health conditions such as schizophrenia or autism and help us understand how sensory perceptions differ in these individuals.”

With the recent tragedies in San Francisco and Seattle, not to mention Sandy Hook, we can use all the information we can gleam about the brain and mental illness. Maybe someday soon, we’ll be able to spot mental illness  and stop these specific people before they do something harmful to others.