Early non-visual experience influences proprioceptive-spatial discrimination acuity in adulthood

The present study tested whether non-visual spatial experience affects later acuity of space perception. Congenitally blind adults who differed in the age acquired spatial knowledge via an orientation and mobility (O&M) training and matched sighted controls performed passive arm movements and judged the direction of the sensed movement. Proprioceptive-spatial discrimination acuity was assessed by an adaptive psychophysical procedure in two spatial coding conditions. In the egocentric coding condition, participants judged whether the hand trajectory felt left- or right-tilted in reference to a straight trajectory aligned to the transverse horizontal plane of the body midline axis. In the allocentric coding condition, they indicated whether the hand trajectory felt acute- or obtuse-angled in reference to a right angle. Proprioceptive-spatial acuity of congenitally blind participants significantly covaried with the age they attended an O&M training. The earlier the congenitally blind participants started the O&M training the more accurate was their space perception. Congenitally blind participants who underwent an O&M training after the age of 12 years showed poorer acuity than sighted controls. Congenitally blind participants with an earlier O&M training, however, approached the performance level of the sighted controls. The observed improvement in spatial acuity was more pronounced when judgements were given on the basis of an allocentric than an egocentric frame of reference. These findings suggest that proprioceptive-spatial acuity in adulthood depends on non-visual spatial experience during early development.