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If you lose a body part, other bits get a sensory boost – thank you, brain


When you wake up in the middle of the night in total darkness, it can feel as if you have auditory superpowers. Suddenly, you can hear floorboards creak storeys below and the softest rustle of foxes destroying the bins outside, once again. Indeed, it is common wisdom that when you lose one sense, the remaining senses heighten. Research with people experiencing long-term sensory deprivation, such as blindness or deafness, appears to support this notion. People born without sight can indeed feel and hear things significantly beyond the range of the sighted. Brain data initially seemed to explain these sensory superpowers.…

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