Could you train your senses to become more acute?

Discussion in 'Biology & Genetics' started by visceral_instinct, Jun 6, 2009.

  1. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

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    I had a hearing problem due to a blockage in my ear, and though I went almost entirely deaf for about a day, it seemed that my brain compensated by 'hyper listening'.

    I have had this fixed, everything now sounds extremely loud, even clicking a computer mouse sounds deafening.

    If you were to undergo regular sessions of partial sensory deprivation for periods of time, for example wearing ear plugs, could you get your brain to maintain that 'hyper listening' phenomenon?
     
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  3. orcot Valued Senior Member

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  5. chris4355 Registered Senior Member

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    Yes. Especially with hearing. As an active musician for the past 7 years of my life I can gladly say that ears do get trained better to hear if you really focus on them. Keep in mind, its something I believe from personal experience.

    There are plenty of cases Ive heard of where blind men have incredible hearing to compensate.

    Also, I used to practice drums without ear plugs.

    Then one day I started wearing them for about 7 months straight.

    After those 7 months I took them off, started playing without them and I heard those drums better than I had ever heard them before. It was extremely loud for me however, and I had to have my plugs back on.
     
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  7. Xylene Valued Senior Member

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    My first job was in an extremely noisy environment, and I had to wear earmuffs to keep my hearing; I found with the earmuffs on (and at the time, I was the only one wearing them, believe it or not) that I could hear the 'phone in the office, whereas nobody else could.

    I find also that if I have to move about in a darkened room (say, on a moonless night) I end up hyperalert, because even if I know the room well, there's always the chance that you could smack into something that had been placed differently, like a chair that's been shifted. The last thing you want to do is knock something over loudly at 2 am and wake up someone who's sleeping in the next room...

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    Also, people tend to have hidden reserves of strength which are only called upon in extreme emergencies; there was a story from the Vietnam war about 4 soldiers who were travelling down a one-way jungle path in a jeep, when they were fired upon by the Viet Cong. They jumped out of the jeep, each man grabbed a wheelguard, and they lifted the jeep and turned it through 180degrees, then jumped in and drove away. When their sargeant disputed their story back at base, they were unable to repeat the job--not enough stress.
     
  8. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

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    src: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17714934

    src: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14766183

    So is what happens due to the deprivation of normal auditory stimuli allowing for a more acute responsivity to more subtle stimulation?
     
  9. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

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    That was basically what happened with my hearing, I think. I had only low stimulation incoming, so my brain compensated by becoming more sensitive to that low stimulation...I assume..
     
  10. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Habituation.
     
  11. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I don't think you can.
    Can you train your eyes to see better or train your ears to hear better? I don't think so. I think you can train yourself to pay attention better. To ignore background noises or to see small movements that you over looked before.

    People are born with better senses than other people. I think you either have it or you don't.
     
  12. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Most of the seeing is done in the brain. The eyes just provide the input.
    I think some aspects can be improved. It just depends on what Vis meant with more acute.
     
  13. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

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    I meant more acute, as in better perception whether that is due to the brain adapting or your actual eyes or ears improving.
     
  14. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    The improvement will have to occur in the brain. Think of blind people that can hear way better then non-blind people.
     
  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    But can they hear because there has been a physical change or because they have learned to focus and pay attention better?
     
  16. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

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    Because of paying attention better.

    When you have no hearing problems, you are better off blocking out lower stimuli, such as your own breathing, the rustle when you move, or people talking a moderate distance away.

    When you're partially deaf, you need to pay extra attention to lower stimuli, otherwise you won't get a proper fix on your surroundings via your hearing. So your brain compensates by 'hyper listening'.

    Then when you abruptly remove the cause of the deafness, your brain is still in that 'hyper listening' mode, so, everything sounds extremely loud.
     
  17. EmmZ It's an animal thing Registered Senior Member

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    Is there a difference between training and learning?
     
  18. Dr Mabuse Percipient Thaumaturgist Registered Senior Member

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    Yes you can greatly heighten your senses in many ways.
     
  19. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    But that's a very temporary effect. I experience it every day..
     
  20. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

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    @Enmos: But say you had regular sessions where you would mute your senses. If you got the length of time right I'm sure you could maintain heightened senses.

    I still have hyperhearing today, though it is not so extreme.

    @Dr Mabuse: so do you know of other ways you can heighten your senses? I'd love to know.
     
  21. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Somehow I doubt it. But why would you want that anyway ?
     
  22. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    -=-

    Photography improved my farsightedness.
     
  23. Steve100 O͓͍̯̬̯̙͈̟̥̳̩͒̆̿ͬ̑̀̓̿͋ͬ ̙̳ͅ ̫̪̳͔O Valued Senior Member

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    I remember reading about a man who wore lenses to make everything upside down. After a while his brain compensated and everything was back to normal.

    When he took off the lenses his vision was upside down, and again had to adjust.
     

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