Synesthesia is a fascinating condition where some people can hear tastes or see letters in color or other crazy combinations of senses. Imagine listening to a Geico commercial and tasting fajitas. Insanity.
Could this condition all come down to a genetic mutation that results in some hyperconnectivity between brain regions? Listen to find out more!
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Synesthesia quiz: https://exceptionalindividuals.com/candidates/neurodiversity-resources/neurodiversity-quizzes/synesthesia-quiz-test/
Citations and relevant papers below:
TYPES OF SYNESTHESIA IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. Accessed February 13, 2022. https://www.thesynesthesiatree.com/2021/02/types-of-synaesthesia-in-alphabetical.html
Hooser SDV, Roy A, Rhodes HJ, Culp JH, Fitzpatrick D. Transformation of Receptive Field Properties from Lateral Geniculate Nucleus to Superficial V1 in the Tree Shrew. Journal of Neuroscience. 2013;33(28):11494-11505. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1464-13.2013
Huff T, Prasanna Tadi. Neuroanatomy, Visual Cortex. Nih.gov. Published March 15, 2019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482504/
Zhu MM, Xu YL, Ma HQ. Edge Detection Based On the Characteristics of Primary Visual Cortex Cells. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 2018;960:012052. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/960/1/012052
Heywood C, Gadotti A, Cowey A. Cortical area V4 and its role in the perception of color. The Journal of Neuroscience. 1992;12(10):4056-4065. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.12-10-04056.1992
Ramachandran V, Hubbard E. Synaesthesia -A Window Into Perception, Thought and Language. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 2001;8(12):3-34. http://chip.ucsd.edu/pdf/Synaesthesia%20-%20JCS.pdf
Sakai J. Core Concept: How synaptic pruning shapes neural wiring during development and, possibly, in disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2020;117(28):16096-16099. doi:10.1073/pnas.2010281117
Brang D, Ramachandran VS. Survival of the Synesthesia Gene: Why Do People Hear Colors and Taste Words? PLoS Biology. 2011;9(11):e1001205. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001205
Grossenbacher PG, Lovelace CT. Mechanisms of synesthesia: cognitive and physiological constraints. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2001;5(1):36-41. doi:10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01571-0