Homoiōma in Dreams of Congenitally Blind

Abstract

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 the dreams of the congenitally blind people identified from the online database DreamBank. A higher presence of auditory, haptic, olfactory and gustatory sensation in dreams of congenitally blind was demonstrated, by comparison 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 the questions about the possible underlying neuromechanisms.