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Synesthesia: A psychosocial approach
Abstract
Subtitles: Mental Protection by Synesthesia; When Synesthetes Meet with Psychiatrists; Synesthesia as an Advantage; Loneliness; Synesthetes in Conflicts; Social Interactions; Synesthesia Under Stressful Conditions; Narcissism; Sexuality; Empathy and Lucidity.
... It is unclear whether synesthesia, as a normative variation of human consciousness, could represent a form of awareness that has the potential to prevent developmental disorders or compensate for them in the sense of a cognitive reserve capacity (Zedler and Rehme, 2013). Extrapolating, one could hypothesize that the phenomenon of synesthesia may be associated with enhanced resilience to psychiatric illness. ...
Grapheme-color synesthesia is a normal and healthy variation of human perception. It is characterized by the association of letters or numbers with color perceptions. The etiology of synesthesia is not yet fully understood. Theories include hyperconnectivity in the brain, cross-activation of adjacent or functionally proximate sensory areas of the brain, or various models of lack of inhibitory function in the brain. The growth factor brain-derived neurotrophic (BDNF) plays an important role in the development of neurons, neuronal pathways, and synapses, as well as in the protection of existing neurons in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. ELISA methods were used to compare BDNF serum concentrations between healthy test subjects with and without grapheme-color synesthesia to establish a connection between concentration and the occurrence of synesthesia. The results showed that grapheme-color synesthetes had an increased BDNF serum level compared to the matched control group. Increased levels of BDNF can enhance the brain's ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions, injuries, or experiences, resulting in positive effects. It is discussed whether the integration of sensory information is associated with or results from increased neuroplasticity. The parallels between neurodegeneration and brain regeneration lead to the conclusion that synesthesia, in the sense of an advanced state of consciousness, is in some cases a more differentiated development of the brain rather than a relic of early childhood.
... While in 1885 the painter was taking piano lessons, his teacher noticed that he was continually relating the sounds of the piano keys with specific colors; considering then that his pupil was insane, the teacher sent him away [9]. It is therefore understandable that synesthetes (i.e., persons affected by synesthesia) commonly avoid mentioning their percepts and even tend to close on themselves in psychological distress [10][11][12]. For that very reason, scientific studies probably underestimate synesthesia prevalence in the general population. ...
Synesthesia is an extraordinary perceptual phenomenon, in which individuals experience unusual percepts elicited by the activation of an unrelated sensory modality or by a cognitive process. Emotional reactions are commonly associated. The condition prompted philosophical debates on the nature of perception and impacted the course of art history. It recently generated a considerable interest among neuroscientists, but its clinical significance apparently remains underevaluated. This review focuses on the recent studies regarding variants of color synesthesia, the commonest form of the condition.
Synesthesia is commonly classified as developmental and acquired. Developmental forms predispose to changes in primary sensory processing and cognitive functions, usually with better performances in certain aspects and worse in others, and to heightened creativity. Acquired forms of synesthesia commonly arise from drug ingestion or neurological disorders, including thalamic lesions and sensory deprivation (e.g., blindness). Cerebral exploration using structural and functional imaging has demonstrated distinct patterns in cortical activation and brain connectivity for controls and synesthetes. Artworks of affected painters are most illustrative of the nature of synesthetic experiences.
Results of the recent investigations on synesthesia offered a remarkable insight into the mechanisms of perception, emotion and consciousness, and deserve attention both from neuroscientists and from clinicians.
Cerebral plasticity induced by visual loss represents a poorly understood field of neuroscience, with numerous questions that don’t yet have an answer. Central and peripheral vision, the evolutionary compromise between spatial resolution and the sampled space volume, are processed in distinct areas of the brain. Understanding the impact of vision loss in theses regions, is of utmost interest for the study of visual brain. Herein, in two models of retinal disorders affecting central and peripheral vision (namely Stargardt macular dystrophy and retinitis pigmentosa), we specifically investigated the effects of the central and peripheral visual loss on brain morphology and its functional connectivity. 1. Morphological plastic changes induced by central and peripheral visual loss. We explored the effects of visual loss on cortical thickness (CoTks) and cortical entropy (CoEn, marker of synaptic complexity) in the cytoarchytectonic regions of the occipital lobe. Central visual loss associated thinning in dorsal stream regions, while peripheral visual loss in early visual cortex (EVC) and regions belonging both to dorsal and ventral stream. Theses effects were unpredicted by the canonical view “central vision – ventral stream”, “peripheral vision – dorsal stream”. Normal CoEn in theses areas suggests that synaptic complexity is preserved in the remaining networks. Only central visual field loss presented CoEn alterations, namely an increase in areas involved in object recognition, that likely reflects a synaptic complexity enhancement in response to the loss of the high spatial resolution of central vision. The gain in synaptic complexity could mask neuronal loss due to deafferentation and may account for the CoTks normality. 2. Plastic changes in the functional connectivity of central and peripheral EVC. We explored and compared to normally afferented EVC, the functional connectivity of afferented and deafferented parts of EVC and found that central and peripheral visual loss induce different patterns of reorganization. Residually afferented early visual cortex reinforce local connections presumably to enhance the processing of altered visual input, while deafferented EVC strengthen long-range connections presumably to assist high-order functions. Combined structural and functional data indicate that areas with reduced CoTks superpose with several areas presenting reduced functional connectivity with the peripheral EVC and that areas with increased CoEn superpose with several areas presenting increased functional connectivity with afferented peripheral EVC. These data point that alterations of the sensory input to the peripheral field are more prone to induce plastic changes. Overview : Data in the current work provide an interesting perspective about the plasticity following central or peripheral visual field loss and show that it is more complex than the canonical model would have let to presume.
Synästhesie ist eine gesunde Normvariante menschlichen Bewusstseins und tritt bei ca. 5 % der Bevölkerung als Kopplung von Sinnesqualitäten auf, die in der Regel mit deutlich mehr kognitiven und seelischen Vorteilen als mit Beeinträchtigungen einhergeht. Auf vielleicht über 150 mögliche verschiedene Arten (6, 7) sind Sinne (auch im weiteren Sinne) bei der Synästhesie miteinander verschmolzen. In den meisten Fällen werden die Verknüpfungen sprachlich getriggert. Z.B. löst das Hören eines Buchstaben in vielen Fällen das Sehen einer Farbe aus. Genetische Untersuchungen zeigen bei eindeutigen familiären Häufungen signifikante aber recht heterogene Hotspots auf und deuten auf eine Spielart der Evolution hin. Bei Erwachsenen erfreut sich die Erforschung der neurophysiologischen Grundlagen des gesunden Phänomens breiter wissenschaftlicher Aufmerksamkeit, auch als Paradigma für die Bewusstseinsforschung. Bei Kindern und Jugendlichen stehen trotz eines auffällig häufigen Vorkommens der Synästhesie in diesem Lebensabschnitt bislang kaum Daten zur Verfügung. Die vorliegende kurze Übersicht soll die Leser für die Synästhesie sensibilisieren sowie eigene Erfahrungen mit jungen Synästhetikern und deren Familien aufzeigen.
Synaesthesia is a healthy variant of human consciousness and occurs in apprx. 5 % of the population as a coupling of senses. It is usually accompanied with significantly more cognitive and emotional advantages than disadvantages (41). In the meaning of synaesthesia senses are merged with each other in perhaps over 150 possible different forms of synaesthesia (6, 7). In most cases synaesthesia is triggered by speech. E.g. hearing a letter often elicits seeing a colour. Genetical investigations have shown clear familiar clustering as a suggestion for an evolutionary variety, but a quite strong heterogeneity in the hotspots. In adults, exploring the neurophysiological basis of this common phenomenon enjoys broad scientific attention as a paradigm for the study of consciousness. Despite a conspicuous frequent occurrence in children and adolescents, synesthesia in this period of life has hardly data. This brief review should the reader aware of synaesthesia and show own experiences with young synaesthetes and their families.
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