Synesthesia and the Implications of Sensory Fusion :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Synesthesia and the Implications of Sensory Fusion Synesthesia is defined as the sensation produced at a point other than or remote from the point of stimulation, as of a color from hearing a certain sound.[1] (From the Greek, syn=together+aesthesis=to perceive). In common language synesthesia is an involuntary blending of the senses by some people, which allows them to see colors when looking at numbers, for instance. This is a topic that was introduced over a century ago, but has not been taken serious until recently with the development of tests capable of testing whether or not the condition was real. Previously, scientists thought that this was a figment of the imagination, drug abuse, or in its most concrete form one of memory. As if seeing a number paired with a color, say in early childhood was the reason that a person paired them later on in life. There was also the theory that these people were very creative and when they said that they could taste a shape, it was only an unconventional metaphor. However, thanks to in depth pursuit of this topic by scientists, especially Ramachandran and Hubbard the validity of such statements has been proven. One test they developed to test the ability of people to pair colors with the site of ordinary numbers involved printing up sheets with similar numbers, like 2 and 5. Many people claimed to see a certain color when presented with the number 2 and a different color when shown 5. The 2's and 5's were arranged in such a way that one number formed a distinct shape in the midst of the jumble of the other number. A non-synesthetic would be incapable of distinguishing any pattern due to the close resemblance of the numbers. But, in 90% of the cases where people claimed to see colors they were easily able to discern the shape because it registered stood out for them as a completely different color. One wonders what takes place in the brain to cause such phenomenal differences in perception. The cause is unknown for certain, like many things in the realm of science it has not been researched nearly enough, but there are some indications. The merging of certain senses points to a crossing of signals in the brain. Although the theory is an old one, it has come to the forefront of the scientific researcher's minds, with increased focus on the topic.