Does echolocation have human sixth sense?

By practicing, we can also get this "superpower".

In the animal world, different species such as bats, dolphins or whales, emit sounds to orient themselves in their environment and determine their prey. The ability to locate in echoes is not a special ability because we can actually learn and do that.

Yellow: waves come out - Red: waves bounce.

With sounds created by mouth and a certain amount of practice, anyone can develop this skill. However, this ability is especially good in people who lose sight, and the explanation may be in their brains. Have we explored this promising sixth sense?

It's like learning a new language

Similar to how devices detect active submarines, bats, whales and dolphins emit sounds and their brains echo echoes. This audio feedback provides information necessary for them to locate and track their prey, this ability is called echolocation (Echolocation). With limited visibility and low light living environment, they are difficult to see like humans.

Illustration of sound patterns of mouth clapping in echolocation in humans. (Source: Thaler et al).

But this ability does not stop at these animals. People can also develop it by practicing and exercising regularly.

"In the lab, we train volunteers by asking them to do some specific echolocation tests, for example, discovering whether an object is in front of them or not, and by providing feedback after each implementation, we can know whether their answer is correct, " said Lore Thaler, a researcher at Durham University's Department of Psychology. , interview OpenMind.

Participants showed progress after repeating the test many times. An echolocation expert compared this skill with learning a second language - the common secret to progress is to practice regularly.

In her case, she tried to practice, even outside the lab."When I practiced, I often closed my eyes or covered my eyes with a bandage, carrying a cane to help me detect obstacles on the ground , " she said.

Developed from having limited visibility

Anyone can hear their echoes, and from the echoes around them, we can see ourselves in a small or large space or an empty room. But for more information, such as detecting objects or obstacles, active signals are required.

Santani Teng, a researcher at the Department of Psychology at the University of California Berkeley (USA), said: "With just a bit of practice and active signals, such as clicking the tongue and other sounds, people who are covered The eye can learn to distinguish the size, distance, and even the shape of the object through the echolocation. "

Although anyone can learn this skill, this skill is especially developed in people who lose sight. According to Teng, loss of vision at a younger age, the ability to locate the sound becomes even sharper.

Although anyone can develop this ability, this ability is especially developed in people with visual loss . (Source: Freaktography).

He said: "They can use echo signals with the degree of accuracy that most ordinary people do not have incomparable training."

In his view, the loss of long-term vision has facilitated better echolocation, but researchers still don't know what that condition is. What they know is that apart from the mouth, this skill consists of two basic areas of the body: the ear, the place where the echo reverberates, and the brain processes this information. For blind people, brain images show that visual-related regions are activated. This proves the arrangement of echo signals that triggers special processes in the brain of people with vision loss.

Locate the echoes faster in bats

The main difference in the echolocation between people and bats lies in the resonant speed and frequency range. Bats use ultrasound frequencies that are not audible to the human ear, we can only hear sounds at frequencies between 20 hertz and 20 kilohertz, while ultrasonic tones vibrate at higher frequencies.

At the same time, echoes in bats are also released faster. Stefan Greif, a researcher at Sensory Ecology research group at the Max Panck Academy in Germany, said: "Like humans, bats make sounds using vocal cords. Super-speed mechanical system, which helps to produce sound at very high speeds ".

This speed is even faster if they land or hunt, then the sound can be emitted at a rate of 160 tones / sec. The higher the speed of pronunciation, the more information they will collect. According to Greif, the difference between the low and the negative is only 5 milliseconds.

Ignoring the differences between humans and other animals, can we conclude that echolocation is a sixth sense? This multi-sensory coordination has a combination of hearing and cortical areas that are visually related in blind people, however, there are still too many unexplored things before we reach the end. this treatise.