Dreams in a world without images: How do blind people dream?

Blind people dream too, but how do the dreams of those who have never had sight take shape, and how do they differ from the dreams of sighted people?

Zomit: Blind people also dream; But how are the dreams of those who have never had sight formed and how are they different from the dreams of sighted people?

Imagine that you have never seen the color of the sky, the faces of people or the view of the sea. What goes through your mind when you fall asleep? Can you dream of walking on the beach? Do you have an image of the sea in your dream or do you feel the sound of the waves, the touch of the beach sand and the wind?

For most sighted people, dreaming is a predominantly visual experience. When we sleep, we see places and faces that sometimes seem quite real. We may even walk through cities we have never visited or meet people who have passed away years ago.

But the dream is not only made of images. Sounds, movement, touch, smells, and emotions such as joy and fear can also be part of the sleep experience. This helps to understand the dreams of blind people.

Blind people also dream like sighted people, but the way of experiencing these dreams can be different. When losing sight, a person's visual memories and sensory experiences affect the content of his dreams. A person who has become blind as an adult may still see vivid images in dreams; While the dreams of a congenitally blind person usually rely more on sound, touch and other senses.

However, there is still an important question: Can the brain of someone who has never seen the world with their eyes create a visual image while sleeping?

What do congenitally blind people see in their dreams?

To understand the dreams of congenitally blind people, we must first change our common perception of dreaming. Dreaming does not necessarily mean watching a series of images; The brain can create a complete story of people, places and events without visual imagery.

Suppose a person who has been blind since birth dreams that he is walking by the sea. His dream may be shaped by the sound of waves, the feel of sand under his feet, the smell of sea air, and the sound of a friend walking beside him. He can know where he is standing, who is with him, and what is happening without necessarily experiencing the visual image of the beach.

Scientific evidence shows that congenitally blind people experience more auditory, tactile, smell and taste elements in their dreams compared to sighted people. In fact, the information they rely on to make sense of the world when they are awake has a stronger presence in their dreams as well. For example, a sighted person may see the face of one of his friends in a dream, but a congenitally blind person can recognize the same friend by his voice or awareness of his presence in the dream story.

This difference does not mean that the sleep experience of blind people is more limited or incomplete. Their dreams can also include familiar and unfamiliar places, conversations, movement, excitement, and complex events. The main difference is in the sensory information that the brain uses to construct these experiences.

The traditional view is that congenitally blind people, because they have had no experience with normal vision, cannot have the same visual dreams as sighted people. According to this view, the brain needs previous visual experiences to reconstruct images in sleep.

But some scientific findings have challenged this assumption. Some congenitally blind people, after waking up, describe their dreams with words related to images and vision. In some studies, their brain activity during sleep has shown patterns similar to those related to mental imagery in sighted people.

However, the interpretation of these findings is not straightforward. A congenitally blind person may use words such as "seeing" or "image" to describe perceiving the shape and position of objects without the experience being similar to seeing with the eyes. Also, the activation of parts of the brain that are usually associated with visual information processing does not alone prove that a person is experiencing visual images.

As a result, it is still not possible to say with certainty that congenitally blind people never see visual images in their dreams or, conversely, have a vision-like experience. What is clearer is the prominent role of hearing, touch and other senses in their dreams.

The dream experience of people who have spent part of their lives with sight may be significantly different from the dreams of congenitally blind people.

A person who has lost his sight in adulthood has many visual memories; From the faces of relatives and the color of clothes to the streets, buildings and natural landscapes. These memories may appear in his dreams years after becoming blind. For example, a person who became blind at the age of 30 may still dream of his mother's face or his childhood home at the age of 50.

However, the visual content of dreams does not always remain constant. In some people, the longer the blindness goes on, the more blurred the dream images may be, and their clarity, color, or presence may decrease. At the same time, sounds, tactile sensations, and other sensory experiences can become more prominent.

The age of vision loss is also important. People who became blind after about five to seven years of age are more likely to have visual dreams; Because in the years of growth, they have had more opportunity to form memories and visual representations. In contrast, those who lost their vision in very early childhood may experience fewer or no visual images in their dreams.

Of course, five to seven years old is not a definite boundary between having and not having visual dreams. The amount of vision before blindness, brain development process, personal memories and individual differences also play a role in the dream experience.

Interestingly, visual dreams of blind people in later years are not necessarily limited to what they saw before they lost their sight. Some of these people may dream of visual representations of people or objects that have entered their lives after becoming blind. This shows that the brain does not simply play back images stored in memory while dreaming, but can create new experiences using new memories and information.

How does the brain create a mental image of the environment without vision?

The ability to recognize space does not depend only on the eyes. The brain also uses the information it receives through hearing, touch and body movement to understand the environment.

Suppose you are in a dark room. Even without seeing things, you may be able to partially recognize your position and surrounding objects by touching the wall or hearing the sound of someone walking in the room.

Blind people can also use sensory information to recognize the shape, size, distance and position of objects. Such information is stored in memory and can form part of the dream experience. This ability is related to an important characteristic of the brain called neural flexibility or neuroplasticity.

Neural flexibility allows the brain to change the way its neural networks work and communicate in response to different experiences and conditions. In congenitally blind people, parts of the brain that are normally used to process visual information in sighted people can also participate in processing information related to other senses.

For this reason, the absence of vision does not mean that the brain is unable to construct complex representations of the world. A blind person can understand the position of objects, distances and spatial relationship between them in his mind without having a visual image.

Of course, a distinction must be made between these spatial representations and the actual experience of seeing. The fact that the brain can represent the structure of an environment without vision does not necessarily mean that it creates the same visual experience as sighted people.

Do blind people have more nightmares?

Blind people have nightmares just like sighted people, but some studies suggest that nightmares may be more common among people who are congenitally blind.

In one study that examined the dreams of blind and sighted people over four weeks, the congenitally blind reported more nightmares than the other two groups. Their dreams were also more likely to involve aggressive situations.

One of the possible explanations for this difference is related to everyday experiences. Blind people may encounter obstacles, unexpected situations, or accessibility problems when navigating unfamiliar environments. Experiencing such conditions can create a feeling of worry or insecurity, and a part of it is likely to be reflected in the content of dreams. For example, losing your way, encountering a sudden obstacle or being unable to reach your destination can be the stuff of nightmares.

There is another hypothesis that relates the difference in the way mental representations are formed and processed to the experience of nightmares. However, the available evidence is not enough to definitively confirm these explanations. Also, the number of blind participants in related studies has been relatively limited. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that all blind people have more nightmares or that blindness by itself increases nightmares.

Despite the difference in sensory experiences, the emotional and narrative content of the dreams of blind and sighted people have many similarities. Blind people also talk to others in their sleep, travel, face unexpected situations, and experience emotions such as happiness, sadness, fear, and excitement.

In comparative studies, despite the difference in the sensory content, there is no comprehensive and significant difference between the subjects and general feelings of the dreams of blind and sighted people. Therefore, we should not imagine the dreams of blind people as less detailed or emotionally limited. They too can have complex, vivid, and emotional experiences, even if these experiences are not image dependent.

Examining the dreams of blind people helps to understand one of the important questions of neuroscience: how does the brain create a mental experience from memories and sensory information?

In our daily life, we receive a large part of the information of the environment through the eyes. Maybe that's why we think that experiences like dreaming should also rely on images. But the dreams of blind people show that the brain does not necessarily need vision to build the mental world. Sounds, touch, movement, memories and emotions can also form a complete and meaningful experience together.

On the other hand, the persistence of images in the dreams of some people who later became blind shows that past visual experiences can remain in memory long after vision loss.

There are still no definitive answers to all questions. In particular, the nature of possible visual experiences in the dreams of congenitally blind people is still a matter of scientific debate. Studying such experiences is also difficult; Because researchers cannot observe the mental content of dreams directly and rely largely on the description of people after waking up.

However, one thing is clear: you don't need to see with your eyes to dream. The dream of walking on the beach can be formed by the sound of waves, the feeling of sand under your feet and the presence of a friend. An experience that may be visually different from a sighted person's dream, but can still have the same story, feeling and meaning.