LOSS OF VISION

Sight. Hearing. Touch. Taste. Smell. The five senses are so easy to
remember that kindergarteners can rattle them off. But understanding how they
tell us about the world around us, or how the others compensate when one sense is
lost to us, is far more complex. Our five senses, combined with our brain and the
rest of the nervous system, give us clues about both what is safe, enjoyable, and
comforting and what is dangerous, scary, and unpleasant. Without them, the world
would be a far harder place to comprehend.

Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles are both examples of well-known musicians
who lost their sight at an early age. It is impossible to know if this lack of sight
has contributed to their excellence in music, but more and more studies are
showing that those who are born blind or who lose their sight early in life are
better at non-visual task that those who can see.

In test, sighted and blind volunteers were asked to localize the source of
different noises. It was found that the blind participants performed much better
than those who could see. The unusual par, however, was that when the
participants brain were scanned while they were performing the task, it was
discovered that the blind participants were using the part of the brain associated
with vision to process the information. In effect, they were seeing with their
ears. So, their brains were helping them navigate the world without sight.

This is just one of the ways in which scientists believe the brain adapts to
overcome injuries or the loss of senses.

Decide if the sentences below are true or false, change the ones that
are false.

- All blind people are great musicians.

- Test show blind people are better at certain task than sighted people.
- The participants had to say where a sound was coming from.
- Both groups performed the task well.
- The participants brain activity was observed during the test.
- The blind participants had more developed audio processing area.
- The brain can adapt itself.
THE SENSES
Our sense organs allow us to interact with the world around us. They detect
information which is then transmitted to the brain. Here, the information is
deciphered and the brain then reacts to the stimulus.

SIGHT
The eye is a very special part of the body. Sight is one of five senses the other
four are taste, touch, smell and hearing. If you did not have eyes you would not be
able to see anything. You would not know where to go. The eyelid protects the eye
and spreads tears from tear ducts to wash the eye. The eye lashes protect the
eye by preventing small particles from getting in your eye.

Organize the sentences:

- The lens focuses the light on the retina at the back of the eye.
- Light reflected from an object enters our eyes through the cornea and pupil.
- Nerve receptors in the retina transmit the information to the optic nerve
which then sends the information to the brain.
- The place where the optic nerve leaves the eye is called a blind spot. This are
does not respond to light.
- The amount of light entering our
eyes is controlled by the iris. The iris
gives the eye its color.
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 HEARING
The ear helps us with many things. It tells us if there is danger or something
nearby. If we couldnt hear then how would we know what somebody else was
saying? Well, in fact, if we couldnt hear we couldnt talk because we need to be
able to hear ourselves speak or else we dont know what we are saying! But humans
have a horrible sense of hearing compared to many other types of animals. Dogs
can hear way better than humans can, as can many types of predatory birds like
hawks and owls. But this article is going to be about the human sense of hearing,

Organize the sentences:

- The auditory nerve sends the signals to the brain.

- In turn, these vibrations make the three small
bones in the middle ear vibrate.
- In information send is processed by the brain.
- The vibration s finally reach the cochlea
in the inner ear, where they become electrical signals.
- Sound waves enter the auditory canal in the outer
ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate.

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SMELL
We must talk about the organ responsible for this sense: the nose. The nose is a
protuberance located between the eyes and the mouth. It is part of our
respiratory system allowing us to breathe in and out. On the other hand, in
addition to breathing, the nose allows different odors to penetrate from the
outside and, thanks
to the olfactory
receptors located in
the nostrils,
perceive, feel and
differentiate
various odors.

TASTE
Substances enter
our mouth and come into contact with our tongue. The tongue is covered in taste
buds which have receptor cells. These receptor cell detect the different tastes
(salty, sweet, bitter and sour) and send the information to the brain.

Chemicals from substances in our mouths also enter the nose which is why if we
have a blocked nose, food often tastes different and bland.
TOUCH
The skin covers and protects our whole body. The middle layer of skin, called the
dermis, contains nerves and blood vessels. These detect sensations such as heat,
pressure and texture. The nerves in the skin send information to the brain
through the peripheral nervous system and the spinal cord.
ACTIVITY 3 QUESTIONS:

1. What are the five senses and the five sense organs?
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2. Why do you think that senses are important in your life?

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3. Why do you have eyelashes and eyelid?
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4. What do sensors in our skin detect?
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5. What healthy habits can protect our sense organs?
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6. How do sense organs send messages to the brain?

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7. What do you think that is the most important sense? Why?

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8. What are the parts of the skin?
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