Synesthesia Notes
Synesthetes tend to be: Left-handed: synesthetes are more likely to be left-handed than the general population. Neurologically normal: synesthetes are of normal (or possibly above average) intelligence, and standard neurological exams are normal. In the same family: synesthesia appears to be inherited in some fashion; It seems to be a dominant trait
Synesthesias frequently co-occur.
Having one type of synesthesia makes you 50% more likely to have a second type (Eagleman and Cytowic, 2009)
72% of self-reported synesthetes are female, says The Synesthesia List website.
Most synesthetes report having had synesthetic perception since childhood, although synesthesia can also be caused by brain damage or by psychoactive drugs such as LSD..
Synesthesia tends to run in families.
The first known reports of synesthesia come from Francis Galton in 1880.
Every grapheme has its own very specific color, and seeing that grapheme always invokes the experience of that certain color. Most synesthetes try to describe in vivid detail the unique colors of their alphabet.
Synesthetic experience is unidirectional, meaning that the letter A can cause the synesthete to experience red, but the color red does not cause the person to visualize A.
In 2002, fMRI scans demonstrated that when a word color synesthete hears a spoken word, there is measurably higher activity in the region specialized for color vision (V4) when contrasted with non-synesthetic controls (Nunn, et. al., 2002).
The colors of a synesthete’s graphemes are consistent over time.
In a study measuring the consistency of color-assignment, both synesthetes and non-synesthetes were asked to assign colors to 117 names and words. After a week, the non-synesthetes only retained 38% of their original color assignments, while after a year, the synesthetes’ assigned colors were 92% identical (Baron-Cohen, et. al., 1993)
The Synesthesia Battery is an online test
Synesthesias frequently co-occur.
Having one type of synesthesia makes you 50% more likely to have a second type (Eagleman and Cytowic, 2009)
72% of self-reported synesthetes are female, says The Synesthesia List website.
Most synesthetes report having had synesthetic perception since childhood, although synesthesia can also be caused by brain damage or by psychoactive drugs such as LSD..
Synesthesia tends to run in families.
The first known reports of synesthesia come from Francis Galton in 1880.
Every grapheme has its own very specific color, and seeing that grapheme always invokes the experience of that certain color. Most synesthetes try to describe in vivid detail the unique colors of their alphabet.
Synesthetic experience is unidirectional, meaning that the letter A can cause the synesthete to experience red, but the color red does not cause the person to visualize A.
In 2002, fMRI scans demonstrated that when a word color synesthete hears a spoken word, there is measurably higher activity in the region specialized for color vision (V4) when contrasted with non-synesthetic controls (Nunn, et. al., 2002).
The colors of a synesthete’s graphemes are consistent over time.
In a study measuring the consistency of color-assignment, both synesthetes and non-synesthetes were asked to assign colors to 117 names and words. After a week, the non-synesthetes only retained 38% of their original color assignments, while after a year, the synesthetes’ assigned colors were 92% identical (Baron-Cohen, et. al., 1993)
The Synesthesia Battery is an online test