What is synesthesia in psychology?

Smell the music. Feel that the colors make sounds. Read and perceive that certain letters are blue, red or yellow. Synesthesia in psychology is one of the most amazing neurological phenomena and a characteristic that defined figures such as Vincent Van Gogh. It is associated with creativity, but it is still, at times, a somewhat disturbing experience.

Being a synesthete is like having a mind with multiple parallel universes that react in unexpected ways.. Any stimulus can suddenly cause arbitrary sensory experiences due to an error in the brain. There is an excess of neural connections and this leads to failures and alternations when processing information.

This characteristic is called “multimodal integration” and it defines a small part of the population. Immediately, we offer you all the information.

What is synesthesia in psychology?

Synesthesia in psychology It is a neurological condition in which one or more senses are combined. Works such as those published in the journal PLoS Biology indicate that the incidence is between 2% and 4% of the population; Furthermore, they define that experience in which a stimulus causes unexpected sensations, such as hearing colors or tasting words.

The authors of this same research highlight that the origin of the phenomenon has a specific neural basis. Cross activation or, as mentioned, multimodal integration is always appreciated. That is to say, There is an excess of neuronal connections and this causes several senses to be activated at the same time, when processing a stimulus..

It’s known that Synesthesia has a genetic basis: it is inherited from parents to children. Furthermore, the magazine PNAS It has an interesting exploration of the origin of this excessive connectivity. The key would be a genetic alteration, which would explain, for example, that a family shows the same variety of sound-color synesthesia.

What are the main types of synesthesia?

This fact may surprise anyone, but over 164 potential types of synesthesia have been described. This is what research from the University of Sussex tells us. If we take into account all the combinations that the crossings between different senses and stimuli can generate, the results are astonishing.

Now, for their correct analysis it is necessary to group them. This reduces the number quite a bit. However, and as a curiosity, we can find personality synesthesia, in which one sees each person with a certain color. Let’s explore the different typologies below.

Grapheme-color synesthesia

In grapheme-color synesthesia, a person can see the letter “A” as blue and the letter “B” as green.. That is, each letter evokes a type of chromatic tone. The University of Edinburgh published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, describing an interesting investigation with 600 random children, to discover how this type of synesthesia matures over the years.

Auditory-visual synesthesia

Auditory-visual synesthesia is also known as chromesthesia. It is a condition in which a person sees colors when listening to music or random sounds. It is an intense and stimulating experience that defined notable artists such as Paul Klee or Wassily Kandisnky or current singers such as Lady Gaga.

Lexico-gustatory synesthesia

Can you imagine reading certain words or hearing certain sounds and suddenly tasting strawberry ice cream or mint tea? Lexical-gustatory synesthesia causes A person feels flavors when exposed to auditory stimuli. They are particular neurological facts that make those who demonstrate this condition unique.

Mirror-touch synesthesia

In the world of synesthesia in psychology there is an experience that, in particular, draws attention. In mirror-touch synesthesia it is possible to have the same physical experience as another person we observe.. If you are with a friend who scratches her forehead, you will feel the touch of those fingers on yours. If you see a movie where an actor caresses an actress, you will experience that caress.

Synesthesia in psychology and the touch-sound modality

Touch-sound or audio-tactile synesthesia traces a most stimulating phenomenon: experiencing sensations when listening to sounds. It is something similar to classic ASMR. Sometimes, when exposed to certain music or certain sounds, we feel ticklish caresses or as if a feather were passing over our skin.

Ticker Synesthesia tickertape

Ticker synesthesia would be difficult to believe if we did not have scientific documentation. The magazine Cognitive Neuroscience details this typology. There are people who, when thinking or listening to others speak, see subtitles or physical words in their minds transcribing those auditory experiences.

The authors highlight that we are dealing with a type of synesthesia in its own right and that it is not related to grapheme-color synesthesia.

People with synesthesia: what are they like?

Synesthesia in psychology is an interesting experience for several aspects. First, it is one of the most striking non-pathological neurological phenomena. Second, It is common for synesthetes to show a similar characteristic: creativity.

The University of Bern, in Switzerland, highlighted this same fact in research: there is a link between being synesthetic and dedicating yourself to art. Now it seems that Those who stand out the most in these areas are those who show the “auditory-visual” typology.

Thus, those who are exposed to auditory stimuli see extraordinary colors around them and become more involved in creative tasks. In fact, they demonstrate divergent creativity to a greater degree. That is, they demonstrate a more innovative, challenging and non-linear way of thinking.

As a curious fact and, finally, synesthesia in psychology now has a new area of ​​future. Investigations like those published in the magazine Nature They remind us that, Although this neurological condition is congenital, it can be trained. That is, we can learn to have synesthetic experiences. Who would not like it?

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