I decided to create a blog about Synesthesia. The question I asked was "what is synesthesia"? Well throughout my research in this phenomena I found the answer to my question. Synesthesia is when two senses in the brain get crossed in their paths. So people who have this neurological problem can usually see sounds or taste shapes/object and colors. I read an article about Pharrell Williams and it said that he lives with synesthesia. It is said that one person out of every 250,000 people have synesthesia.
Many researchers will describe synesthesia to be like an acid trip that never goes away. But unlike an acid trip, synesthesia does not affect your everyday life. Many synesthetes live a relatively normal life. Of course when we listen to music and they listen to music there is a major difference. They can see swirls of different colors right before their eyes, where as the rest of us can only hear the notes.
In one of my videos there is a man by the name of Shawn who talks about living with synesthesia. He talks about how he cant eat foods together that give off two different colors. He picks out chicken and ice cream which he says gives off a nice light blue color. "Normal" people wouldn't eat that but to him he cant taste the food he can only taste the color of the food.
It is said that people who have synesthesia have very high IQ's and dont necessarily struggle during school. Its also recorded that people with synesthesia have immediate family that has either been diagnosed with autism,add, or dyslexia.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
What A Pretty Sound!
Usually when one hears the phrase, “ what a pretty sound”, they think of it in the way that it sounds. But if one hears this phrase from nineteen year old, Samantha, she means it literally. Samantha was diagnosed with Synesthesia when she was just a little girl. She explains synesthesia as a disorder in your brain, where the senses in your brain get crossed. It makes her able to see the music she plays and tasting objects that is not food. Samantha explains that when she hears the letter A she sees a bright pink swirl in front of her. When she sees a chair she says she can literally taste an apple. Samantha described life as a child when she would play the piano. She told us that she noticed that she would see swirling colors in front of her face. She didn’t know that that wasn’t normal, she thought that everyone saw colors like this when they heard music. Samantha is a rare case when it comes to her synesthesia. Synesthesia is mainly genetic but it can also happen after a stroke or brain tumor and it can also be caused by different hallucinogens. Samantha had a brain tumor when she was just 3 years old. One of her symptoms was synesthesia. Her doctor said that he would be able to safely remove the tumor but the synesthesia would still be there. When we asked her, if given the chance, if there was a cure for synesthesia would she want it. She said, “No, I don’t think I would get the treatment. I think of this disorder as a gift from God. I like being able to see all the different pretty colors when I play my piano. Plus, it brightens up my day.” Samantha is very optimistic about her synesthesia. Synesthesia has been around for centuries and scientist have not yet found a cure for it yet. We asked Samantha if her synesthesia affects her daily life and she said, “ No it doesn’t affects my daily life. I mean, yes, my life is different from others but I can live on my own and do the things that I enjoy still.”
A recent study has shown that there is a new type of synesthesia, hearing motion. Hearing motion is described as hearing something when you see an object in motion. Dr. Saenz, a neurobiologist in California Institute of Technology, discovered a boy that said he could hear something when he was shown a screen full of dots that were converging and expanding. So there are different types of synesthesia that you could have. There are usually 31 combinations of the senses but since, in synesthesia, only two are paired together it brings the number down to 20 possible combinations. But the pairings are generally only one way, such as sound can create color but color can not create a sound. The estimate number of people in the U.S. that have synesthesia varies greatly from one in every two thousand to one in every twenty-five thousand. Synesthetes can function at a very high level academically. People with synesthesia are very intelligent, very creative, and have excellent memories. They have better memories than people without synesthesia because they can usually associate people’s names with a taste or a color. Many people with synesthesia end up become musicians or artist. They find an outlet for their synesthesia. Many painters will paint what they are seeing and musicians just like to see what they are playing. Synesthesia can also be triggered by different types of drugs. Drugs like LSD and hashish is a good example. The feelings that both of these drugs give you is somewhat related to how you would feel if you were synesthetic. So synesthesia is genetic, or you can acquire it, like Samantha, or it can be triggered by different types of hallucinogenic drugs.
A recent study has shown that there is a new type of synesthesia, hearing motion. Hearing motion is described as hearing something when you see an object in motion. Dr. Saenz, a neurobiologist in California Institute of Technology, discovered a boy that said he could hear something when he was shown a screen full of dots that were converging and expanding. So there are different types of synesthesia that you could have. There are usually 31 combinations of the senses but since, in synesthesia, only two are paired together it brings the number down to 20 possible combinations. But the pairings are generally only one way, such as sound can create color but color can not create a sound. The estimate number of people in the U.S. that have synesthesia varies greatly from one in every two thousand to one in every twenty-five thousand. Synesthetes can function at a very high level academically. People with synesthesia are very intelligent, very creative, and have excellent memories. They have better memories than people without synesthesia because they can usually associate people’s names with a taste or a color. Many people with synesthesia end up become musicians or artist. They find an outlet for their synesthesia. Many painters will paint what they are seeing and musicians just like to see what they are playing. Synesthesia can also be triggered by different types of drugs. Drugs like LSD and hashish is a good example. The feelings that both of these drugs give you is somewhat related to how you would feel if you were synesthetic. So synesthesia is genetic, or you can acquire it, like Samantha, or it can be triggered by different types of hallucinogenic drugs.
Synesthesia Brains
Summary: The video I watched was about a man named Shawn who is forty-three years old and has synesthesia. He talks about how he sees different colors in different types of food. He tells how he can taste color. He explains that its hard to have this disorder because you don’t get to choose what color you see or taste. He says that he would love the sound of an instrument but hate the color that it made. He said he finds it disturbing when a color he dislikes enters the orchestra. In the video he explains that chicken is a light blue shade. His meal that night consist of chicken with ice cream and orange sauce on top because he likes the taste of light blue. He says he sees the colors while he is eating. The narrator explains that only 1% of the worlds population is diagnosed with synesthesia.
Connection: I could definitely use this video in my research because Shawn explains it better than any doctor could because he actually has the disorder. He gets put under a bunch of test to show what different colors mean for him. He tells how different food is a different color apart from its original color. I think that he is very interesting and cant wait to find out more about this disorder.
Connection: I could definitely use this video in my research because Shawn explains it better than any doctor could because he actually has the disorder. He gets put under a bunch of test to show what different colors mean for him. He tells how different food is a different color apart from its original color. I think that he is very interesting and cant wait to find out more about this disorder.
Seeing Life in A Different Way
Summary: The video was about how people with synesthesia can taste food and it relate to a shape, how different words can leave a taste in your mouth, and how different notes can be different colors. It shows a woman by the name of Laura Rosser who plays the piano. She tells the reporter all the different colors she sees with different notes. He asks if they appear one at a time while the note is being played or if it just jumbles together and she says that they just swirl together in front of her. The reporter then takes a test to see if he can find a shape made up of twos in a bunch of fives. It takes him a while to do it but he figures it out. When he asks Laura and two other girls to do it they immediately point it out. He asked them how they found it so quickly. The girls then told the reporter that all their fives were red and their twos were yellow or orange. Laura goes on to explain how she sees synesthesia as a gift, as a spiritually thing instead of just a disorder in her brain.
Connection: I really liked this video because she explains a lot about her disorder. I like it because she doesn’t let the fact that she has a disorder effect her in any way. It shows people that just because you have something like synesthesia doesn’t mean that your life will end or that you will have to live so differently from other people. People with synesthesia can go on living relatively normal lives. The only thing that is different for them is the way they perceive things.
Connection: I really liked this video because she explains a lot about her disorder. I like it because she doesn’t let the fact that she has a disorder effect her in any way. It shows people that just because you have something like synesthesia doesn’t mean that your life will end or that you will have to live so differently from other people. People with synesthesia can go on living relatively normal lives. The only thing that is different for them is the way they perceive things.
Pharrell Williams and Synesthesia
Summary: Pharrell Williams is being interviewed by Scott Sterling when he mentions that he has a rare disease known as synesthesia. Williams tells Sterling that N.E.R.D’s tour, Glow in the Dark, is based on synesthesia. He tells about his new album coming out called “Seeing Sounds”. He tells Sterling that, “the title is based on the phenomenon called synesthesia, which is when one of your senses sends electric impulses to unintended parts of the brain. So for some people, when they hear music, it also stimulates them visually.” He also says to Sterling that he wanted people to recognize that and see the sounds of his album.
Connection: The interview between Pharrell Williams and Scott Sterling will benefit me in my paper because it will help me show that synesthesia is real and people do have this disease. He shows that he’s not really shy about having this disorder happen in his brain. Pharrell wants everyone to know what it feels like when you have this disorder by setting up his tour like what he sees when he hears music. He wants everyone to experience what its like to see through his eyes. The interview gives me something to refer to in my presentation and he sets an example for all people with synesthesia because even though you have this disorder it doesn’t mean you wont be able to do great things with your life.
Sterling, Scott. "15 minutes with Pharrell Williams." Metromix Los Angeles. 01 June 2008. Metromix. 6 Apr
Connection: The interview between Pharrell Williams and Scott Sterling will benefit me in my paper because it will help me show that synesthesia is real and people do have this disease. He shows that he’s not really shy about having this disorder happen in his brain. Pharrell wants everyone to know what it feels like when you have this disorder by setting up his tour like what he sees when he hears music. He wants everyone to experience what its like to see through his eyes. The interview gives me something to refer to in my presentation and he sets an example for all people with synesthesia because even though you have this disorder it doesn’t mean you wont be able to do great things with your life.
Sterling, Scott. "15 minutes with Pharrell Williams." Metromix Los Angeles. 01 June 2008. Metromix. 6 Apr
Hearing Motion
Summary: Rich Maloof explains how when asking a child to describe the primary sense that most of them will tell you the sensory organs-eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue-that help us organize and navigate the world around us. He describes how a Synesthetes sees colors when hearing sounds or associates taste to different objects. Like a low toned object could be a dark purple or houseboat could taste like a glazed doughnut. But he recently found that Synesthetes can also hear motion. He explains that a neurobiologist did a study on a few college kids and found out that one of the students had the disorder when he asked “Did anyone else hear something when you look at that?” The neurobiologist believes that the eyes predict what you will hear in a normal brain but in a synesthesia brain the person hears the motion right as they see the object. Maloof also describes synesthesia as being like a acid high, like being enveloped in swirling colors as music plays.
Connection: I think this article will help me show various ways that the Synesthete’s brain works and how differently they perceive senses than people who don’t have synesthesia. He gives good examples about how they would see different tones and pitches and how they associate different objects with taste. It also shows recent findings in people with synesthesia, which is some of them being able to hear motions.
Maloof, Rich. "The Mysteries of Synesthesia." MSN Health & Fitness. 2008. MSN. 6 Apr 2009
Connection: I think this article will help me show various ways that the Synesthete’s brain works and how differently they perceive senses than people who don’t have synesthesia. He gives good examples about how they would see different tones and pitches and how they associate different objects with taste. It also shows recent findings in people with synesthesia, which is some of them being able to hear motions.
Maloof, Rich. "The Mysteries of Synesthesia." MSN Health & Fitness. 2008. MSN. 6 Apr 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Crossing Of the Senses
Summary: Bradley describes the two main types of Synesthesia as two sensory or multiple sensory. She also explains that synesthesia can be idiopathic or non-idiopathic.
Idiopathic synesthesia is when it occurs naturally and genetically within the first four months of life. Non-idiopathic synesthesia is when it occurs from seizures, drugs, neuron degeneration, brain damage, spinal cord damage, and concussions. People with synesthesia cannot hold back from what they are see, hearing, or tasting. Most synesthetes have high IQ’s and do not struggle in school. It’s common for people with synesthesia to report frequent experiences with déjà vu, clairvoyance, premonitions, the felling of a presence, and precognitive dreams. It’s also very likely that a person with synesthesia has an immediate family member with autism, dyslexia, or attention deficit disorder.
Connection: This article is very informational about synesthesia. Ill be able to use this very well for the research project. "A red rings louder in your eye and a taste of blue lingers at your fingertips. You have a neighbor whose consistently green voice grates against his consistently deep blue suit. Nobody seems to understand. There are things you hear, things that you touch - that you cannot talk about. You don't believe yourself to be mad, or if you are, you no longer believe in what the word implies. You don't believe you're hallucinating...hallucinations should make less sense. This...this is an abundance of sense. " - Omar Kamel. Id really like to use this quote because it will “normal” people how a synesthetic brain works and retrieves information.
Bradley, Cheryl Lynne. "Synesthesia: The Crossing of the Senses." Tarot Canada. 02 Jan 2006. 10 Apr 2009.
Idiopathic synesthesia is when it occurs naturally and genetically within the first four months of life. Non-idiopathic synesthesia is when it occurs from seizures, drugs, neuron degeneration, brain damage, spinal cord damage, and concussions. People with synesthesia cannot hold back from what they are see, hearing, or tasting. Most synesthetes have high IQ’s and do not struggle in school. It’s common for people with synesthesia to report frequent experiences with déjà vu, clairvoyance, premonitions, the felling of a presence, and precognitive dreams. It’s also very likely that a person with synesthesia has an immediate family member with autism, dyslexia, or attention deficit disorder.
Connection: This article is very informational about synesthesia. Ill be able to use this very well for the research project. "A red rings louder in your eye and a taste of blue lingers at your fingertips. You have a neighbor whose consistently green voice grates against his consistently deep blue suit. Nobody seems to understand. There are things you hear, things that you touch - that you cannot talk about. You don't believe yourself to be mad, or if you are, you no longer believe in what the word implies. You don't believe you're hallucinating...hallucinations should make less sense. This...this is an abundance of sense. " - Omar Kamel. Id really like to use this quote because it will “normal” people how a synesthetic brain works and retrieves information.
Bradley, Cheryl Lynne. "Synesthesia: The Crossing of the Senses." Tarot Canada. 02 Jan 2006. 10 Apr 2009
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