Goalball

I would love to watch this sport in person:

Goalball participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded in it, into the opponents' goal. They must use the sound of the bell to judge the position and movement of the ball. Games consist of two 10 minute halves. Blindfolds allow partially sighted players to compete on an equal footing with blind players.

Think, for a moment, about what an impressive cognitive feat that is. The rest of us depend almost entirely on our vision to localize objects in space. But these athletes have learned how to detect fast motion with their ears. What a great cohort for some future fMRI study on plasticity in the auditory cortex. Here is a picture, courtesy of The Big Picture Blog:

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via kottke

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there are understandings among yogic communities that the so-called third eye sees in 360 degrees, that blind people can see in that way .. just rambling, cool post, thanks

This looks like a really cool game.

Could this contribute to the development of the auditory imagination where music is generated by the mind and the individual "hears" the music. Anyone with anecdotal or other information on this phenomenom???

By sericmarr (not verified) on 13 Sep 2008 #permalink

Surely "Bell ball" would be a much better name! What ball game doesn't have some kind of goal? :-)

By John Jackson (not verified) on 18 Sep 2008 #permalink