What color is the letter A? This is a question Nicholas Root often asks to the volunteers he recruits for his research. Most people have the same reaction. “They say the work is stupid and the letters have no color,” says Root.
However, it does work for people with letter-color synesthesia, where letters and words are associated with specific colors. Among them is Jennifer Mankin, now a synesthesia researcher, who confused her classmates when she was a teenager by saying that one of her classmates had an orange name. I remember letting you. “In that moment, it became clear that my perception of the world was radically different from most other people’s,” she says.
Scientists have known about synesthesia for more than 200 years, but for most of that time they have been wondering why some people mix sensory information, for example, why they associate taste with words, or sound with texture. It was unclear whether or not There is a recent consensus that some forms of synesthesia, particularly letter color synesthesia, are closely linked to learning. The revelation has prompted researchers like Mankin to not only ask why synesthesia exists, but to explore what it reveals about brain function.
This research already shows how culture influences the way we learn, and how our thinking is shaped differently depending on the language we speak or write. is showing. The latest findings may prove even more important. There are intriguing indications that many people without synaesthesia mix sensory information unconsciously, and what we learn about this property may teach us something broader about human consciousness. Suggest that they might help.
The first plausible explanation for synesthesia was…
