Sunday, October 28, 2007

An echolocating boy

From the neurophilosophy blog at scienceblogs (first 10-minute segment of video below):

At the age of 2, Underwood was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer that that affects about one in 5 million children. One year later, his eyes were surgically removed, to prevent the tumour from spreading throught the optic nerve and into the brain.
Soon after his surgery, Underwood realized that he could use echoes to determine the positions of objects, and began to develop this "six sense." His ability to echolocate is now so sophisticated that he can ride a bike, skateboard and play computer games.

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