The Science Behind Synesthesia
I
recently stumbled across an article about an artist who paints music. This
artist, Melisa McCracken, was gifted the neurological condition called
chromesthesia, a subtype of synesthesia. The idea that someone could see music
as color was as fascinating as it was mysterious. Naturally, I sought to learn
about the biology behind this interesting condition.
Synesthesia
is generally defined as a neurological condition by which a stimulus
automatically and involuntarily activates two cognitive pathways as opposed to
just one. In this specific case, when Melisa hears music, she also sees it.
This is a rare phenomenon that only affects about four percent of the
population. There are a multitude of other subtypes with Melisa’s being one of
the more common ones.
Since
studies related to this condition are relatively new, only some questions are
answered. Although we still cannot confirm which genes are responsible, we now
know that for the most part, synesthesia is inherited. A study conducted by
neurologist Simon Fisher in the Netherlands used whole-exome sequencing to
sequence the DNA of four to five synesthetes and one non-synesthete from three
different families. The study found that
there are 37 genes related to synesthesia but too many variants for them to be
considered synesthesia genes. However, it was discovered that six of the
variants were associated with the development of connections between neurons
and axons. More importantly, the six variants are expressed in the brain’s
visual and auditory cortices during development. These results along with the
results from a different study that found a really high amount of neural
connections in the brains of synesthetes lead Fisher to conclude that someone
with abnormally high neural connectivity is more likely to have synesthesia.
Is
it possible that Melisa’s brain exhibits an unusually high degree of
connectivity between her visual and auditory cortex? Although I can’t say for
sure, this study has allowed me some insight into the matter. Synesthesia is
still fascinating but less mysterious.
Link: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/03/synesthesia-s-mysterious-mingling-senses-may-result-hyperconnected-neurons
Posted by Sarah Kamukala (2)
I’ve always been fascinated with the neurological condition, synesthesia ever since reading A Mango-Shaped Space in middle school. Although chromesthesia seems really cool to someone like me who is unaffected by synesthesia, people with this condition also face consequences. I was listening to a podcast called “Invisibilia,” and in one episode, they talked to woman with Mirror Touch Synesthesia, so she is able to physically feel what others are feeling when she is around them. She can physically as well as emotionally connect to those around her, and because of this, she became a hermit and rarely leaves the house. The study you found definitely sheds light on the cause of Synesthesia, but I wonder if there is treatment for this condition. Perhaps one that would temporally dampen the degree of neural connectivity. Did the article mention anything about possible treatment?
ReplyDelete- Angelina Weng (3)
Wow! I had no idea this existed. Life with Mirror Touch synesthesia sounds painful and intense. I certainly understand why she would not leave the house. No, the article did not mention cures, especially since we are now just beginning this research. Should there be a cure in the future, I can imagine it being brain surgery to remove some of the connections between the cortices. However, I can also imagine the risk outweighing the benefit when it comes to such a dangerous procedure.
DeletePosted by Sarah Kamukala
This is such a cool phenomenon to look into. I can't even imagine how people with synesthesia live everyday life while being bombarded with more sensory information than the average person. My brother has it and he says he can associate music with colors and certain words too.
ReplyDelete-Zoe Israel
This is so interesting, I have never even heard of this before. The fact that she can see music is amazing, but also may be overwhelming in terms of living her every day life. If she can see music it must mean that she can see many things that she hears. Thinking about all the sounds we hear on a day to day basis that we tone out would be extremely more difficult for our brain if we saw them as well.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Aboody (1)
This is a very interesting condition and this blog is well written on the topic. There are actually several subtypes of Synesthesia, all of which exhibit unique perceptions. The most well thought of subtype is the Grapheme-Color synesthesia, which is the perception of letters having a slight tone of color on them when read. Another common one is Chromesthesia, which is the association with sounds and colors, which I can imagine makes listening to music a very unique experience!
ReplyDeleteDerek Simoncelli (3)
This is very interesting, I could only imagine what the people with synesthesia are seeing. Having the ability to see music, does that effect any of her other senses? Like having the ability to see such thing will it weaken your other senses? I think its cool that they can see music as color but it must affect their daily lives.
ReplyDelete- Tatiana Silveira (3)
This is such a cool article, I actually just looked up some of her paintings. They're amazing to look at knowing the story behind them. A lot of them seem to have the same pattern and I wonder if that means that they were drawn to the same music. Overall, I thought this was a very interesting topic and its good to see that Melissa is making the best out of her condition.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the paintings are drawn to the same music. My guess is each music note is associated with a certain color; so as the song progresses she draws the music so to speak. The paintings probably look similar because there are only so many notes. However, the paintings are different because each song will be arranged differently. This is just a guess, I did not find anything definitive on this when I searched.
DeletePosted by Sarah Kamukala
I found this very interesting as well. As someone who grew up playing and learning about music I wonder if her visions of music are similar amongst the style of music or if there is any pattern or correlation to how she personally feels about the music and what she sees. I wonder if people with this condition can see the same color for the same music.
ReplyDelete-Sunaina Sharma (3)
I've never heard of synesthesia before but wow is it fascinating! I wish you had included a picture or two of hers, but after a quick Google search it's clear that her work is incredible!! I wonder what would happen if two individuals with synesthesia were asked to paint a picture of the same song. What are your thoughts on this? Personally, I feel like one's mood and experiences would lead to a personal interpretation of the music, leading to an equally beautiful but different painting than the other's. Nevertheless, super cool phenomenon...is it weird that I'm jealous? Lol :)
ReplyDelete- Nicole Ayres (1)
This is extremely interesting! I love the fact that a neurological condition could make you even more creative, and can make your creativity this unique. The more I learn about the neuroscience behind neurological conditions, I realize that neuron connections, especially between different brain areas, explains a lot of individual differences between humans.
ReplyDelete- Rund Tawfiq (3)