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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
Published on: September 7, 2022
Blind or deaf? A matter of aesthetics
Jiye G Kim1, Andrew J Goldman, Irving Biederman
1Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 3641 Watt Way, Hedco Neurosciences Building, Room 316, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA. jiyekim@usc.edu
Abstract:
Blind or deaf? Surprisingly, a small but noticeable minority, 17%, opted for blindness. Another 6% were indifferent. For these individuals (23% of the sample), the loss of the aesthetic experience--music--was given relatively greater weight than the loss of the practical--conversation. This was not a symmetric effect in that those who opted for being deaf did not place greater value on the aesthetic aspects of vision compared to those who opted for being blind. What predicts the preference for being blind was not the amount of time spent listening to music but the extent to which one formally studied, created, and played music and experienced intense emotions when engaged by music.
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