Mental Imagery in Dreams of Congenitally Blind People

Abstract

It is unclear to what extent the absence of vision affects the sensory sensitivity for oneiric construction. Similarly, the presence of visual imagery in the mentation of dreams of congenitally blind people has been largely disputed. We investigate the presence and nature of oneiric visuo-spatial impressions by analysing 180 dreams of seven congenitally blind people identified from the online database DreamBank. A higher presence of auditory, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory sensation in dreams of congenitally blind people was demonstrated, when compared to normally sighted individuals. Nonetheless, oneiric visual imagery in reports of congenitally blind subjects was also noted, in opposition to some previous studies, and raising questions about the possible underlying neuro-mechanisms.

Keywords

• dream
• congenitally blind
• cross-modal plasticity