21
Physiology & Medicine / Re: Are you aware of Synesthesia increasing human perception?
« on: 15/07/2016 10:14:48 »Quote from: Alan McDougallOnce we have progressed to the point of been able to utilize all of our sensing abilities...What makes us humans is more than what we gain as we grow, it is also what we lose as we develop.
- Many of our body and organ structures are formed by cells that undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death).
- Many of our brain structures are formed by nerve cells that are "pruned" as we grow (remove connections between different areas).
It is possible that cross-wiring of the senses is something that is found to be not very useful as we grow, and is pruned away in most individuals, for good reason.
It seems that the particular mapping of (say) numbers to colors is consistent within an individual, but highly variable between individuals. So this is not something that could be usefully communicated to others as a shared experience.
That did not stop Kandinsky from playing music in the background, and "painting what he heard" - and I enjoy his colorful geometric interpretations.
Synesthesia is not always an advantage - I know of one person who has number-color synesthesia. This person enjoys drawing, and is familiar with the rules for adding colors to a picture. But this totally contradicts the rules for adding the corresponding numbers! In this case, the synesthesia probably interfered with a useful skill - numeracy.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
If you go to my threads in the "Just Chat" subforum, you will see that I am a poet of considerable creativity and skill?
(My Comment=Alan McDougall)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
http://www.livescience.com/17156-synesthesia-taste-words-benefits.html
For instance, synesthesia is purported to be seven times more common in artists, poets and novelists than in the rest of the population. Cognitive neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues suggest that mutant genes responsible for synesthesia might lead people to perceive links not only between seemingly unrelated sensations but also between seemingly unrelated ideas, leading to greater creativity.
Intriguingly, synesthetes at times also demonstrate remarkable memory abilities. For instance, British writer Daniel Tammet said that for him, each positive integer up to 10,000 has its own unique shape, color, texture and feel, and said he has used his synesthesia to memorize the mathematical constant pi to 22,514 digits. Scientists have suggested that synesthesia might be linked with savantism, the remarkable expertise, ability or brilliance in one or more areas at times seen in people with autism or other mental disorders.