Growing awareness

SCIENTISTS have discovered that the brain's understanding of spatial awareness is not triggered by sight alone.

Researchers at Edinburgh University believe that the development could help design technology for the visually impaired.

The scientists examined MRI brain scans of both sighted volunteers and others who had been blind since birth.

Dr Thomas Wolbers, of the university's Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems, said: "Touch plays a role in our understanding of spatial awareness in the same way that we rely on sight."