![]() ![]() People who project will see actual colors, forms, or shapes when stimulated, as is commonly accepted as synesthesia associators will feel a very strong and involuntary connection between the stimulus and the sense that it triggers. There are two overall forms of synesthesia: projective synesthesia and associative synesthesia. So the nonsynesthete will need to create a mnemonic device to remember a sequence (like dates in a diary), but the synesthete can simply reference their spatial visualizations. In one study conducted by Julia Simner of the University of Edinburgh it was found that spatial sequence synesthetes have a built-in and automatic mnemonic reference. Synesthesia may also give a memory advantage. It has been suggested that individual development of perceptual and cognitive skills, in addition to one’s cultural environment, produces the variety in awareness and practical use of synesthetic phenomena. Synesthetes are very likely to participate in creative activities. Self reports, interviews, and autobiographical notes by synesthetes demonstrate a great degree of variety in types of synesthesia, intensity of synesthetic perceptions, awareness of the perceptual discrepancies between synesthetes and non-synesthetes, and the ways synesthesia is used in work, creative processes, and daily life. Some synesthetes report that vowels are more strongly colored, while for others consonants are more strongly colored. This variability was first noticed early in synesthesia research. Synesthetes have used their abilities in memorization of names and telephone numbers, mental arithmetic, and more complex creative activities like producing visual art, music, and theater.ĭespite the commonalities which permit definition of the broad phenomenon of synesthesia, individual experiences vary in numerous ways. Some have learned how to apply their ability in daily life and work. Most synesthetes become aware of their distinctive mode of perception in their childhood. To the contrary, some report it as a gift-an additional “hidden” sense-something they would not want to miss. Though often stereotyped in the popular media as a medical condition or neurological aberration, many synesthetes themselves do not perceive their synesthetic experiences as a handicap. Most synesthetes report that their experiences are pleasant or neutral, although, in rare cases, synesthetes report that their experiences can lead to a degree of sensory overload. This involuntary and consistent nature helps define synesthesia as a real experience. ![]() The automatic and ineffable nature of a synesthetic experience means that the pairing may not seem out of the ordinary. Some synesthetes often report that they were unaware their experiences were unusual until they realized other people did not have them, while others report feeling as if they had been keeping a secret their entire lives. A more accurate but significantly less common term may be ideasthesia. Many different phenomena have been included in the term synesthesia (“ union of the senses”), and in many cases the terminology seems to be inaccurate. Awareness of synesthetic perceptions varies from person to person.ĭifficulties have been recognized in adequately defining synesthesia. Only a few types of synesthesia have been scientifically evaluated. These are usually the first abstract concepts that educational systems require children to learn. This hypothesis – referred to as semantic vacuum hypothesis – explains why the most common forms of synesthesia are grapheme-color, spatial sequence and number form. It has been suggested that synesthesia develops during childhood when children are intensively engaged with abstract concepts for the first time. Little is known about how synesthesia develops. Synesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways. In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be “farther away” than 1990), or may appear as a three-dimensional map (clockwise or counterclockwise). ![]() In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme-color synesthesia or color-graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored. People who report a lifelong history of such experiences are known as synesthetes. Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia from the Ancient Greek σύν syn, “together”, and αἴσθησις aisthēsis, “ sensation”) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Synesthetes see characters just as others do (in whichever color actually displayed) but may simultaneously perceive colors as associated with or evoked by each one. How someone with synesthesia might perceive certain letters and numbers. ![]()
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