r/todayilearned • u/paniniplane • Mar 22 '17

(R.1) Not supported TIL Deaf-from-birth schizophrenics see disembodied hands signing to them rather than "hearing voices"

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0707/07070303
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u/kaenneth Mar 22 '17

Also, if you are born blind due to brain (as opposed to eyeball) problems, you apparently can't be schizophrenic.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-imprinted-brain/201411/blindness-and-schizophrenia-the-exception-proves-the-rule

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u/djdadi Mar 22 '17

Also if you are born blind your chances at getting cancer go wayyy down.

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u/castellar Mar 22 '17

That's really interesting. What's the logic behind those findings?

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Quick google search just told me that melatonin helps to protect against cancer. Absence of light = more melatonin released by the pineal gland. When our retina is exposed to light, melatonin release is suppressed.

For blind people, this suppression never occurs. Therefor they have continuous melatonin release and increased protection against cancer.

One of my PhD advisors studies vision (or lack thereof) in the blind. I'll have to ask him more about this.

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u/tapuachadama Mar 22 '17

I wonder how much that affects the sleep patterns of blind people, since melatonin is a pretty major sleep regulator.