Importance of Synesthesia and Its Practical Uses

Introduction

Synesthesia is the idea that one attribute of stimulus may lead to the conscious experience of another experience. The word synesthesia is Greek for sensations that come together, syn meaning together, and esthesia comes from aesthesis which means sensations (Gross). The first case that was documented, arose in 1812, founded by Doctor George Sachs (Ward, 2013, p. 52). Bleuler and Hemmann were the first to specifically document close to a hundred people who experienced pain-color, taste-color, and smell-color; but at this period in time, synesthesia was also seen as a cultural metaphor for intersensory correspondence (Ward, 2013, p. 53).

For a long time, people did not go to see someone about synesthesia if they knew that it was not “normal” because they feared that people would think that they were crazy for experiencing something different than what they thought most people experienced (Gross). In reality, one of the reasons for synesthesia is proximal cause, which is a structural difference found in the brain for developmental synesthesia that can actually be passed down from family (Ward, 2013, p. 58-59). Although synesthesia might not be recognized as a “normal” phenomenon for people, synesthetes have been able to use their unique ability to their advantage.

Body

The process of sensation occurs when information is detected and then transmitted, but in synesthesia, the sensations become confused (King, 2017, p. 106). Out of the several ways to test synesthesia different types of ways to test synesthesia, scientists have found that the Stroop Test is one of the best tests out there for it (Ward, 2013, p. 54). The test uses names of colors that are either printed as the same color that is written out or a color that is different than what is listed. For example, a card may be handed to someone who is being tested and, on the card, there is blue written down with a blue pen, or maybe they wrote down blue but used a red pen. The test will look for the “Stroop effect”, which is more common to throw off people who do not have synesthesia.

The effect shows a participant's failure to perform selective attention (King, 2017, p. 112). A synesthetic version of the Stroop Test was created using names of colors that were changed to an inducer, such as the letter “A” being perceived as the color red to synesthetes (Ward, 2013, p. 55). These tests have helped to identify different types of synesthesia, including the differences found between family members who have synesthesia. The senses that synesthetes experience lead to perceptions that differ by the person.

Although sensation does not depend on perception, perception depends on sensation. Perception receptor cells record what is in someone's eyes, but there are times where their eyes may deceive them, like synesthesia for example (King, 2017, p. 106). With the help of synesthesia, there is potential to notify a person about ideas of conscious perception (Ward, 2013, p. 55). When using shapes to test synesthesia, it was found that the spatial location of the colors created perceptual grouping that had to do with a participant's attention (Ward, 2013, p. 55). Not knowingly, the human mind chooses what to pay attention to in their environment, using selective attention (King, 2017, p. 111). Scientists are unsure if the synesthete's ability to perceive things are a cause or a consequence since their magnocellular system left sensitive to certain colors or spatial frequency (Ward, 2013, p. 66).

No matter whether it's a consequence or a cause, there have been cases of people who have used it to their advantage. Sarah Grace was on season 15 of The Voice where she very publicly talked about her experience with synesthesia. As a fifteen-year-old, it shocked the viewers to hear her sing “the blues”. She mentioned that she liked the colors that she saw when the music played so she decided that she would sing it (Seaberg, 2018). For some synesthetes, art and creativity were how they best used their abilities, but others found that memorizing was the best outlet for them.

Memory is another important aspect of synesthesia. Some who have publicly discovered that they had synesthesia have found they have a better memory than most than those without it. For instance, Daniel Tammet found with the help of his synesthesia could memorize 20,000 numbers in pi (Ward, 2013, p. 68). Memorizing to that extent is similar to a “photographic memory” because Tammet was able to visualize each one of those numbers of pi. The processing of encoding for those with synesthesia would be less lengthy than what others experience. Tammet mentioned that he could control his own encoding (Ward, 2013, p. 66).

Attention in perception and sensation is important in memory. Sustained attention is a great example that helps with memory because it allows someone to stay focused on one thing for a period of time, but it may not always be the best way to memorize for synesthetes (King, 2017, p. 215). Although it is not clear that those with synesthesia have better overall memories, when it comes to colors, they surpassed others (Ward, 2013, p. 67). Synesthetes had the ability to identify abstract shapes due to their ability to memorize the colors (Rothen and Meier, 2010). Despite the controversy around memory in terms of synesthesia, compared to those without it, there are some unusual benefits that no one can dispute.

Conclusion

For a long period of time people went around having additional sensations when they heard a certain sound or saw something, not knowing that it was not a “normal” ability to have. Thanks to outlets such as live television and social media, people have become more aware of abilities not seen by others that make them unique. Since scientists have not been able to find where exactly synesthesia comes from, they continue to wonder whether synesthetes' ability to perceive is a cause or a consequence. No matter what scientists discover in the future about the cause of synesthesia, those who have it have learned how to use it to their advantage.