(1) We remain, however, far from an understanding of the physiological basis of synaesthesia .(2) An intense curiosity about what goes wrong with the wiring to produce sensory anomalies, such as synaesthesia , drives him on to know more and more and to inspire others to know more and more.(3) Scientists are coming to the realisation that we may all have the capacity for vestigial synaesthesia , even if our sensory pathways have been separated out as normal.(4) For example, when a synesthete hears a bell they would also see colors.(5) Our experiences vary in intensity, we have a perception of time passing so we have sequential experiences, we experience some synesthesia between senses, etc etc.(6) Both ideas imply that, for a synaesthetic experience to occur, neural connections exist, that are not present, or not activated, in the more usual, non-synaesthetic individual.(7) However, new research from Yale on synesthesia is now revealing that there is a complex interaction between the senses in the brain - an interaction that enables us to understand the world in a unified way.(8) In another experiment, the researchers found that synesthetic color helped the synesthetes pick out specific numbers or letters in a crowded display.(9) The experience is vivid and consistent: true synaesthetes give precisely the same descriptions of their experiences even when these are separated by months or years.(10) But we have also learnt from speaking with synaesthetes, about synaesthetic conception, where it's a thought that triggers the sensation.(11) But we have also learnt from speaking with synaesthetes , about synaesthetic conception, where it's a thought that triggers the sensation.(12) Unlike patients who experience hallucinations, synesthetes are not medicated, so you don't have that confounding factor.(13) Language points to its synesthetic grounding when we say, for instance, ‘What a loud tie you have’ or ‘It's bitterly cold.’(14) Results from drug tests show that a synaesthetic experience can actually be manufactured with the help of artificial stimulants.(15) In another experiment, the researchers found that synesthetic color helped the synesthetes pick out specific numbers or letters in a crowded display.
