Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In this paper, we show that there is a distinctive mode of spatial awareness in blind individuals, which we call sense of volume, that is not to be confused with echolocation based on self-generated sounds. It is based on the analysis of variations in the ambient sound field and it provides locational information about objects in one’s surroundings. We propose that the sense of volume offers a primitive contact with the outside world. It does not give access to perceptual objects as such, but it should rather be understood as a rudimentary sense of presence that expresses that there is something out there at a certain distance and in a certain direction. We conclude by highlighting its tactile quality. More specifically, we argue that the sense of volume consists in a form of tactile anticipation: when one experiences something as being out there, one tactually expects that one could come in contact with it.
Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies
Authors: Angéle Pillot, Frédérique de Vignemont
Institutions: École Centrale de Nantes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Nantes, AAU - Ambiances, Architectures, Urbanités, Nantes Université, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, École Normale Supérieure - PSL, Institut Jean Nicod, École des hautes études en sciences sociales
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4405264305