Losing one sense typically fuels advanced development of the other senses, a compensatory measure typically witnessed in blind people. A recent study demonstrated how even temporarily losing a sense -- sight in this case -- leads to advances in hearing, regardless of age, NPR reported.

For those of you with hard-hearing parents/grandparents, however, it wouldn't work to lock them in a dark closet for a week so they can better hear what you're saying; as far as the study measured, the effect can't compensate for hearing loss caused by life and loud noises, such as "rock concerts," according to the University of Maryland's Patrick Kenold, one of the study's researchers. Instead, the finding would appear most relevant for those with auditory processing disorders, especially so in those born naturally blind but who received an implant later in life.

Researchers originally sought to determine if light deprivation in rats adversely affected their visual cortex. But their attention quickly turned to activity in the auditory cortex, noticeable after the rats were kept in the dark for a week.

"Their sensitivity to sounds had increased," Kenold told NPR.

Like Kenold, Hey Kyong Lee, also part of the study, was shocked to see corresponding auditory activity, given there's no "anatomical connection that is directly between these two areas." Of the weeklong period it took to create those changes, she said, "it happened quite rapidly, which I really did not expect."

A week in the dark yielded about 2-3 weeks of enhanced hearing, until the rats returned to their normal state. The obvious question is -- besides if the effect translates to humans -- could researchers find a way to shorten the required dark period?

Kanold sees their experiment's results as a way to ease the transition for patients with cochlear implants, typically given to those who were previously deaf. Because they're hearing for the first time, a period of "dark therapy" (as bad as that sounds) might help as the patient adjusts to sound.

"Imagine yourself in that position, where you've never heard sound before and your brain is provided with that input," Kanold said. "It doesn't know what to do next."