Brain Changes

Summary: Most brain changes are harmful but with synesthesia it is hardly life threatening. Synesthesia is a cross wiring of the brain which cause the senses in the brain to mix. It makes the person see musical notes as colors and taste spoken words or objects. About 1 in 2000 people have this disorder so it is very rare. Synesthesia is genetic and is passed from the parent to the child. Color information is analyzed in the brain’s temporal lobe, which also deal with the physical form of numbers. Brain imaging confirms that people with the disorder who are shown numbers on a blank page see the numbers in different colors. Ramachandran, a famous neurologist created a test for synesthesia. He shows the patients a white board full of black 5’s. A normal person would see just black 5’s and 2’s. A person with the disorder would see the 5’s and 2’s in two different colors, making it very easy to tell apart. People with synesthesia are born with more brain cells than needed. A period of pruning happens and only the brains cells you need and use survive.

Connection: This article is very helpful because it shows how rare this disorder actually is. It explains in little detail what the disorder is. It describes what’s going on in the brain when a person with synesthesia is seeing sound or tasting objects or spoken words. The article explains what causes the disorder. It tells that this disorder is genetic. So if you have it then your children will most likely have the disorder as well.

"Synaesthesia." Your amazing brain. 2008. UK Synaesthesia Association. 6 Apr 2009