Do Hearing-Impaired People Have Better or Worse Vision?

By definition, the hearing-impaired lack one functioning sensory channel that transmits information to the brain. What effectdoes this have on the perceptual systems of the brain is the subject of the review. There are currently two hypotheses on thismatter: The perceptual deficit hypothesis that states that lack of a functioning sensory input affects the development and maturation of other sensory channels and results in the impaired functioning of our senses. The second is the perceptual compensation hypothesis which states that when one sensory system is affected, the processing resources within the brain are reallocatedto the other sensory system resulting in an enhancement of the other systems. This review is about both these hypotheses andattempts to answer the question if the hearing-impaired can really “see “better. We highlight the important findings from boththese hypotheses and provide growing evidence for the perceptual compensation hypothesis.