Does this work in other animals? Apparently. Does initial / early imprinting affect other senses and abilities? Apparently.
Years ago someone did a study using small newborn animals [cats??]. These were born and raised in special cages--some with only vertical stripes, some with only horizontal stripes. [Note: containers painted with stripes were substituted for cages, since a cage cannot be made with only unidirectional bars.] Those raised like this were let out of the cages as young--not as adults--but after they had spent enough time to be familiar with the cage interiors--longer than a few weeks.
The animals had no ability to see things opposite of the cage stripes' design they were raised in---ie., if raised in cages with only vertical stripes, they could only see vertical things; if raised in cages with only horizontal stripes, they could only see horizontal things. Made it difficult for the animals to navigate outside their cages--they became stressed, nervous, skittish, and welcomed a return to the appropriate cages. One might wonder what implications this has for people....
However, other vision studies showed that using special glasses that inverted the visual field for a few days caused the brain to revert the perceived field to the normal, upright view....users of those glasses had to go through another few days of adjustment once they took off those glasses. That study only showed what happened to an adult with regular vision perception, though. No studies were ever done to deprive a newborn of sight.
BUT...children blind from birth, who have had sight restored, have had to learn to see from scratch--and the older they are when vision is given them, the harder it is for them to learn to see.
So, there is definitely a window of time between birth and teenage years, where it is possible to retrain vision perception--after that, it becomes harder, and for some, impossible.
But, once a person finally realizes that they can create what they want, they have an easier time of it---witness those rare persons who are still assessed as completely blind, yet they can sense colors or textures, can functionally perceive [somehow..] the world around them....
The mind is non-local!
C. Holmes
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