https://www.popsci.com/science/what-do-blind-people-experience-in-their-dreams/
Humans are extremely visual. Nearly half of our brain is devoted to processing visual information, and most of the brain networks responsible for providing vision are established early in life. This means that from about the time of birth we begin a lifelong collection of experiences and memories that strongly rely on vision. Throughout life, we associate most of our interactions with visual images rather than with experiences from our other senses, such as hearing or smell. For those of us with normal vision, dreams are full of the visual images we experience during our waking lives.
To understand what blind people experience in their dreams, however, we must distinguish the experiences of those who were blind at birth from those who became blind later in life. Humans born without sight are not able to collect visual experiences, so they understand the world entirely through their other senses. As a result, people with blindness at birth develop an amazing ability to understand the world through the collection of experiences and memories that come from these nonvisual senses.
The dreams of a person who has been without sight since birth can be just as vivid and imaginative as those of someone with normal vision. They are unique, however, because their dreams are constructed from the nonvisual experiences and memories they have collected. While a person with normal vision will dream about a familiar friend with visual memories of shape, lighting and colour, a blind person will associate the same friend with a unique combination of experiences that act to represent that friend. In other words, people blind at birth have similar overall dreaming experiences, but they do not dream in pictures.
The dream experience of a person who lost vision later in life is very different from that of someone who never had vision. People who lose vision later in life have collected many visual experiences that can appear in their dreams in a manner very similar to a sighted person. Interestingly - and perhaps as expected - the dreams of people who develop blindness later in life become less visual as their time without vision increases and as they collect more experiences without vision.
词汇短语精讲
1. be devoted to （被动） 被专用于……；致力于……
例句：Nearly half of our brain is devoted to processing visual information, and most of the brain networks responsible for providing vision are established early in life.
提示：devote 本义为「奉献」，be devoted to 后接名词或动名词，表「被专用于某事」；同结构写作可迁移，如 be devoted to improving public services。
2. rely on 依赖，依靠；依靠……才能成立
例句：This means that from about the time of birth we begin a lifelong(终生的) collection of experiences and memories that strongly rely on vision.
提示：rely on sth. 后接名词或动名词；与 depend on 近义，两式均表「依靠」，本句用 strongly 修饰以强调依赖程度。
3. distinguish ... from 把……与……区分开来
例句：To understand what blind people experience in their dreams, however, we must distinguish the experiences of those who were blind at birth from those who became blind later in life.
提示：distinguish A from B 表「把 A 与 B 区分开」，与 tell A from B、tell the difference between A and B 近义；被动式为 be distinguished from。
4. be constructed from （被动） 由……构建而成
例句：They are unique, however, because their dreams are constructed from the nonvisual experiences and memories they have collected.
提示：construct 本义为「建造（建筑、道路）」，此处引申为「构建（抽象事物）」，属熟词生义；be constructed from 强调由若干成分组合而成，与 be made up of 近义。
5. in a manner very similar to 以与……十分相似的方式
例句：People who lose vision later in life have collected many visual experiences that can appear in their dreams in a manner very similar to a sighted person.
提示：manner 表「方式、样子」，in a manner similar to sb./sth. 为书面表达，含义与 in a way similar to 相近；very 置于 similar 前加强程度。
句子精讲
1. While a person with normal vision will dream about a familiar friend with visual memories of shape, lighting and colour, a blind person will associate the same friend with a unique combination of experiences that act to represent that friend.
翻译：视力正常的人梦到一位熟悉的朋友时，借的是关于形状、光线和颜色的视觉记忆；而盲人则把这位朋友与自己独特的经验组合联系在一起，由这些经验来代表那位朋友。
结构：While 引导让步/对比状语从句 While a person with normal vision will dream about a familiar friend with visual memories of shape, lighting and colour：a person with normal vision 为从句主语，will dream about a familiar friend 为谓语部分，with visual memories of shape, lighting and colour 为介词短语表方式。主句 a blind person will associate the same friend with a unique combination of experiences that act to represent that friend 中，associate A with B 表「把 A 与 B 联系起来」，that act to represent that friend 为定语从句修饰 experiences。全句以 While 建立「正常视力者 ↔ 盲人」的对照，the same friend 回指从句中的 a familiar friend，构成同一对象、两种呈现方式的平行结构。
语法：While 引导的对比状语从句 + 介词短语表方式 + associate A with B 固定搭配 + that 引导的限制性定语从句
仿写：可用句式：While ___ ___ ___ , ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ that ___ ___ .（例：While an only child may play quietly, a team player will learn habits that help the whole group.）
2. Throughout life, we associate most of our interactions with visual images rather than with experiences from our other senses, such as hearing or smell.
翻译：在人的一生中，我们把大多数互动都与视觉形象联系起来，而不是与来自其他感官（如听觉或嗅觉）的经验联系起来。
结构：Throughout life 为时间状语置于句首。主句为 we associate most of our interactions with visual images，其中 associate A with B 表「把 A 与 B 联系起来」，A 为 most of our interactions，B 为 visual images。rather than 引出对照项，与前面的成分构成**结构对等**的并列——两项同为 with 引导的介词短语、同作 associate 的搭配成分，形式上必须一一对应：rather than 之后重复了 with（with visual images ↔ with experiences from our other senses），使两个介词短语表面形式完全对称，对等关系一眼可见；若省去后一个 with（associate A with B rather than C），语法同样成立，但显性重复使平行关系更为清楚，是书面表达中常见的强调手法。句末 such as hearing or smell 为同位举例，其中 hearing 与 smell 又是并列对等的名词。
语法：rather than 连接的并列介词短语（前后结构对等·平行结构）+ associate A with B 固定搭配 + such as 引出的并列举例（hearing or smell）
仿写：可用句式：Throughout ___ , we ___ most of our ___ with ___ ___ rather than with ___ from our other ___ , such as ___ or ___ .（例：Throughout the term, we connect most of our lessons with hands-on projects rather than with notes from our other subjects, such as history or art.）
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