Learn More Here:
Money Making Secrets of Mind Power Masters

CURRENT ISSUE

PAST ISSUES

FEEDBACK

Blind Man Uses 'Sixth Sense' to Detect Emotion

A completely blind British man has been shown to possess an apparent "sixth sense" which lets him recognise emotions on people's faces, British scientists said in research.

The 52-year-old was able to react to pictures of human faces showing emotions such as anger, happiness or fear, the researchers said.

The man, identified only as "patient X", has suffered two strokes which damaged the brain areas that process visual signals, leaving him completely blind.

However his eyes and optic nerves are intact, and brain scans showed that he appeared to somehow use a part of the brain not usually used for sight to process visual signals linked to some emotions.

When researchers from the University of Wales showed the man images of shapes such as circles and squares, he could only guess what they were, and had a similar lack of success determining the gender of emotionless male and female faces.

But when presented with angry or happy human faces, his accuracy improved to 59 percent, significantly better than what would be expected by random chance, with similar results for distinguishing between sad and happy or fearful and happy faces.

He was unable, however, to tell apart images of animals which appeared either threatening or non-threatening.

Brain scans showed that when the man looked at faces expressing emotion, it activated a part of his brain called the right amygdala, which is known to respond to non-verbal emotional signs.

The findings, published in journal Nature Neuroscience, suggested the man was able to process information gathered by his eyes in a different part of the brain from the visual centre.

"This discovery is... interesting for behavioural scientists as the right amygdala has been associated with subliminal processing of emotional stimuli in clinically healthy individuals," said Dr Alan Pegna, who led the study.

"What patient X has assisted us in establishing is that this area undoubtedly processes visual facial signals connected with all types of emotional facial expressions."

More headlines at www.mindpowernews.com

Join the Mind Power News e-zine list to receive all the latest news headlines, cutting-edge scientific research and ground-breaking resources to help you use the amazing powers of your mind to create health, wealth and success in your life. Get your free subscription at www.MindPowerNews.com

Learn how to use Mind Power to attract wealth into your life. Get your free 7-lesson e-course "Mind Over Money: Program Your Mind For Wealth" at www.SecretMindPower.com