Research Reveals Congenital Blindness May Protect Against Schizophrenia
Recent studies have highlighted a unique pattern where individuals who are blind from birth do not develop schizophrenia, a serious mental illness. This observation, first noted in 1950 by Hector Chevigny and Sydell Braverman, has been supported by data from large national health databases. A 2018 study tracking nearly half a million children in Western Australia found that none of the 66 children with cortical blindness developed schizophrenia, despite 1,870 cases in the general population. The protection appears specific to cortical blindness, which affects the brain's visual cortex, rather than blindness caused by eye damage. This suggests that the absence of visual input from birth may lead to a more stable brain development, potentially reducing the risk of schizophrenia. 
