In human beings every sense has a defined function, however in some people these functions can be disrupted, giving rise to a phenomenon known as synesthesia. In this, the perception of the senses causes us being able to see the sounds, taste words, hearing colors, smell shapes and even feel the color.
Synesthesia is a compound word of the Greek “syn” which means together and “aisthesis” which means feeling; so we could say it’s a mix-up of senses in which the stimulus perceived by one, creates an involuntary response and simultaneously in other senses. This unusual mix always generates two questions: What are the benefits? and what causes this?
A recent scientific study explains that this mixture or perceptual phenomenon was associated with memory and creativity, as those who have synesthesia are able to remember all kinds of important information, thanks to the combination of these data with a color, which gives an exceptional memory. Furthermore, synesthetics are more likely to fully develop creative potential and continuously, which can help develop any kind of artistic expression such as literature, music or painting.
Because of its recognition this phenomenon has been studied by science since 1812 and even though the results are inconclusive, it is suggested may be inherited, because about a third of synesthetics have someone in their family like them. While genetics may not be enough to explain how it happens, some studies show that it is more common among left-handed and is especially common among women.
It is also estimated that between two percent and four percent of the world population are synesthetics, but due to lack of knowledge many are unaware they have it; causing them to be unable to express what happens to them for fear of ridicule. Another relevant fact, represents the identification of more than 60 types of synesthesia and though there is still more to discover, the most common are:
• Grapheme-color: This is the most common. A person who experiences this may associate or see individual letters or numbers with a specific color, but usually people won’t report the same color for letters and numbers.
• Sound-to-Color: The sound triggers the visualization of colored, generic shapes, sound-to-color synesthesia is at play.
• Personification: This type is knowns as ordinal-linguistic personification, or OLP. An individual who experiences this will associate ordered sequences with various personalities. May include numbers, letters, months and so on.
• Lexical-Gustatory: It’s one of the rarer synesthesia types. Synesthetics who experience this evoke different kinds of tastes when they hear certain words or phonemes.
Although synesthesia is not present in all people, it is important to know; possibly because his family can anyone expresses this quality, therefore, the recommendation will encourage them to use it as an aid in learning.
ALFA