Scientists find how deaf develop better eyesight

A study at Sheffield University, funded by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), suggests the retina of adults who are either born deaf or have an onset of deafness within the very first years of life is physically different to a retina in hearing adults.

Scientists said is thought this happens in order for the eye to be able to capture more peripheral visual information.

Dr Charlotte Codina, who led the research said: “The retina has been highly doubted previously as being able to change to this degree, so these results which show an adaptation to the retina in the deaf really challenge previous thinking.

“This is the first time the retina has been considered as a possibility for the visual advantage in deaf people, so the findings have implications for the way in which we understand the retina to work. Our hope is that as we understand the vision of deaf people better, we can improve visual care for deaf people, the sense which is so profoundly important to them.”