Color-blind and blind individuals are able to dream in color
Contemporary sleep research and systematic reviews indicate that individuals with congenital or early blindness can experience visual and visuo-spatial imagery in their dreams, challenging older assumptions about oneiric content in the blind.
The retrieved literature, specifically recent systematic reviews and empirical analyses of dream banks, consistently supports the finding that blind individuals retain or develop the capacity for visual and visuo-spatial imagery during dreaming. While color-blind individuals naturally perceive colors (often through altered trichromatic mechanisms) and therefore dream in color, the more debated question regarding congenitally blind individuals is also supported by recent neuroscientific consensus indicating visual dream content. None of the papers refute the claim.
Katarina Ilić, Rita Bertani, Neda Lapteva, Panagis Drakatos, Alessio Delogu, Kausar Raheel, Matthew Soteriou, Carlotta Mutti, Joerg Steier, David W. Carmichael, Peter J. Goadsby, Adam Ockelford, Ivana Rosenzweig. Visuo-spatial imagery in dreams of congenitally and early blind: a systematic review. 2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2023.1204129
This systematic review concludes that congenitally and early blind individuals can experience visuo-spatial impressions and visual imagery in their dreams.
See more details
Jung‐Woo Kang, Rita Bertani, Kausar Raheel, Matthew Soteriou, Jan Rosenzweig, Antonio Valentı́n, Peter J. Goadsby, Masoud Tahmasian, Rosalyn Moran, Katarina Ilić, Adam Ockelford, Ivana Rosenzweig. Mental Imagery in Dreams of Congenitally Blind People. 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13101394
Analysis of dream logs from congenitally blind subjects demonstrates the presence of visual imagery in their mentation alongside heightened non-visual sensations.
Vitali H, Campus C, De Giorgis V, Signorini S, Gori M. The vision of dreams: from ontogeny to dream engineering in blindness.. 2022. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.10026
Reviewing neuroscientific studies on blindness and dreaming, the authors note that congenitally blind individuals maintain the capacity to produce visual dreams through multisensory integration and top-down or bottom-up mechanisms.
The paper trail · every fact has a biography
Challenge the receipt
Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work · Dispute this receipt