Do Blind People Experience Images in Their Dreams?

Even though blind individuals lack sight, their brains typically retain the areas responsible for vision. This raises the question: Can blind people experience visual imagery in their dreams?

In certain situations, they indeed can. 2014 study discovered that individuals who weren't born blind but experienced loss of sight at some point during their lives occasionally described having visual sensations within their dreams. Such dream visuals probably stemmed from recollections formed before losing their eyesight. Nonetheless, the research pointed out that those who lost their vision early in life and remained blind for extended periods were less prone to seeing imagery in their dreams.

"As someone who became blind at the age of seven or younger and has lived with blindness for approximately 20 years, an individual essentially loses almost all visual experiences within their dreams," explained the study co-author. Maurice Ptito , a visual neuroscientist at the University of Montreal, stated to Live Science.

Regarding individuals who are congenitally blind—those who have never had sight—"their dreams often depend more significantly on alternative senses like hearing, touch, taste, and smell." Monica Gori A cognitive neuroscientist at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa informed Live Science.

Many research papers indicate that individuals born blind typically do not experience visual imagery in their dreams. "Nevertheless, some dream investigations have contested this belief," Ivana Rosenzweig The director of the Sleep and Brain Plasticity Centre at King's College London told Live Science.

Related: What prevents us from remembering our dreams?

For example, a study from 2003 published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences It was reported that individuals born blind, when examined using scalp-mounted electrodes during sleep, showed signs of visual system brainwaves. 2023 study From Rosenzweig and her team’s analysis of 180 dreams experienced by seven individuals who were born blind, they also discovered instances containing visual-like narratives.

The notion that congenitally blind people may experience visual imagery in their dreams is both astonishing and thrilling because it suggests that dreaming can offer insights into sensations they've never had during wakefulness, Helene Vitali A cognitive neuroscientist from the Italian Institute of Technology informed Live Science.

Nevertheless, even though activities might happen in the visual cortex of blind individuals' brains when they dream, this doesn’t automatically imply that they visualize images while sleeping, according to Ptito.

Regarding individuals born without sight, the visual cortex adapts to perform different roles," explained Ptito. As an example, he mentioned that "when reading Braille, if researchers activate the visual cortex of these visually impaired persons, they experience tactile sensations in their fingertips. This indicates that rather than ceasing function entirely, the visual cortex changes its role in those who lack vision.

Ptito observed that "we have conducted studies where we placed visually impaired individuals inside fMRI machines and exposed them to various odors while capturing images of their brain activity. We discovered that this sensory input was processed in the visual cortex." He further mentioned that similar findings were observed for auditory and tactile stimuli as well.

Although Ptito argued that activity in the visual cortex does not mean that blind people see pictures during dreams, Vitali suggested other possibilities. One is that the brain's visual system may form abstract concepts from a blind person's senses that might be represented in a visual way for them. Another is that "REM sleep acts like a virtual reality simulator, helping the brain develop and maintain complex abilities like perception and motor skills," she said. This could mean blind people's brains could generate images within dreams even if they could never have such experiences when they are awake.

One key problem with investigating whether congenitally blind people dream in images is that, even if they do see pictures, they have no experience relating them to what sighted people describe as vision, Christopher Baird , an associate professor of physics at West Texas A&M University, elaborated in a blog post .

To tackle this issue, Gori along with her team is investigating how blind individuals form and perceive dream visuals. "We are finalizing our findings which should be published shortly," she stated. Ptito additionally remarked that artificial intelligence Perhaps someday we can examine the brain scans of blind individuals during their dreams to better understand how closely their neural activity mirrors that of people with normal vision.

One potential use for this research could be leveraging dreams as a therapeutic aid, according to Vitali.

"Research indicates that dreams involving particular activities or events can improve memory and learning," explained Vitali. She further suggested that "manipulating the dream phase via sensory input during slumber might strengthen certain skills, like spatial perception." This approach potentially offers an innovative method for assisting those who are blind, since "individuals without sight frequently struggle with constructing mental spatial representations and executing intricate spatial assignments," she added.