Realizations Inc

©Arlene R. Taylor PhD      Realizations Inc

Synesthesia is a word that comes from the ancient Greek meaning sensation. It is the label for a neurologically-based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense can lead to automatic and involuntary experiences in a second sense. It describes differences in perceptual experience (e.g., as do the terms perfect pitch or color blindness).

Synesthesia may be present in as many as 1 of every 25 persons in at least some variant. Some estimates indicate profound synesthesia occurs in 1 of every 100,000 individuals. It tends to run in families. Research continues to determine the mode of inheritance or transmission. fMRI studies have identified differences in patterns of brain activation in those who report synesthesia.

Synesthesia can occur between nearly any two senses.

• In one of the most common forms of synesthesia, grapheme or color synesthesia, individual letters of the alphabet and numbers (collectively referred to as graphemes), are shaded or tinged with a color. Some synesthetes know the color of their letters or the taste of their words, but do not experience them as a color in space or a taste on the tongue.

• In sound-color synesthesia, individuals report experiencing colors in response to tones or other aspects of sounds. The colors may differ in intensity and saturation in different individuals. Some trends have been identified. For example, higher pitched notes are often experienced as being more brightly colored.

Creativity Connection

Synesthesia tends to be more heightened in creative people and has been associated with incredible powers of memory, perhaps due to increased associations. For example, Vladimir Nabokov had colored hearing, Georgia O’Keefe could see music, and Jerry Garcia noted that musical notes had shape, form, and color.

In his book, The Owner’s Manual for the Brain, author Pierce J. Howard mentions the use of synesthesia as a way to enhance creativity. He pointed out that creative individuals have used synesthesia as a gimmick to push their minds from the ordinary into more creative realms. Immersing oneself in one sensory system can stimulate associations with other senses:

• Listening to low sounds can stimulate visual images of dark colors

• Listening to high sounds can stimulate visual images of light, bright colors

Is synesthesia a high-level brain power?

That’s the title of an article by Ewen Calloway that was posted by NewScientist. Studies by Jamie Ward and colleagues at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, suggest that this phenomenon may be the result of a special ability in the brain areas used for language and attention.

“Earlier, another research group  at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, taught 16 colour-grapheme synaesthetes to equate characters from an ancient Slavic script none had seen before with letters and numerals they already associated with colours. “

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427393.800-is-synaesthesia-a-highlevel-brain-power.html.