What color do you associate with the number 1?
If you have an answer to that question, you may have synesthesia. Synesthesia is a neurological condition where the stimulation of one sense automatically and unconsciously triggers a response in another sense (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).
Synesthesia is not perceived as a disorder without a need for treatment. Instead, many people seem to enjoy perceiving the world in a different way than the general population, allowing them to have a rich sensory experience. One of the most common types of synesthesia is grapheme-color synesthesia, where people usually see letters, numbers, and symbols as different colors.
The Causes of Synesthesia
While the causes of synesthesia are not yet fully understood, some research about synesthetes has pointed out:
There are structural and functional differences in the brains of synesthetes compared to non-synesthetes. These include increased neural connectivity and cross-activation between sensory processing regions.
Differences in neurotransmitter levels, such as increased levels of serotonin or glutamate, have been linked to certain forms of synesthesia and may contribute to altered sensory processing. This is also why some drugs can recreate the sensation of synesthesia.
Synesthesia has a strong genetic component, with research indicating it often runs in families. Studies have identified several genes that may be associated with the development of synesthetic abilities.
An interesting phenomenon to note is that there are confirmed cases of synesthesia in people who developed blindness later in life and at least one person with congenital blindness (meaning they had blindness when they were born). There’s also research on one person with synesthesia and a color vision problem who could still experience a color their eyes couldn’t see, meaning that patients could still have synesthesia without certain senses.
In conclusion, the sensation of synesthesia reminds us of the complexity of the human brain and how little we truly understand it. For synesthetes, the world is a symphony of sensations with diverse colors and textures that most people can only imagine. It is a window into the depths of human perception, and the understanding of it would be remarkable in the fields of brain sciences.
Reference List
Cleveland Clinic. (2023). Synesthesia: What It Is, Causes, Symptoms, Types & Treatment. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24995-synesthesia [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].
Watson, K. (2018). What Is Synesthesia? [online] Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/synesthesia#causes [Accessed 1 Jun. 2024].
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