Even in people who have been blind since birth, the brain separates the concepts of living and non-living objects, shows a new study.
Appearing in the journal Neuron, the study suggests that the brain categorizes objects based on the different types of subsequent consideration they demand, such as whether an object is edible, or is a landmark on the way home, or is a predator to run from. They are not categorized entirely by their appearance.
"If both sighted people and people with blindness process the same ideas in the same parts of the brain, then it follows that visual experience is not necessary in order for those aspects of brain organization to develop," says Bradford Mahon, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester, and lead author of the study.
"We think this means significant parts of the brain are innately structured around a few domains of knowledge that were critical in humans' evolutionary history," the researcher adds.
Studies conducted in the past have already shown that the sights of objects like tables or mountains activate regions of the brain other than do the sights of living objects like animals or faces.
However, none of the studies had thus far shown why the brain differently categories the two categories.
Since the regions were known to activate when the objects were seen, scientists wondered if something about the visual appearance of the objects determined how the brain would process them.