Arguably the quirkiest quirk of the human mind , synaesthesiadescribes the condition whereby different senses get combine up during percept , causing the great unwashed to “ see sound ” or “ hear people of colour ” . One of the most rough-cut frame of synesthesia occurs during meter reading , when sure letters are seen as a peculiar colour in the mind of the lector . Now , young inquiry has unveil that those who experience this phenomenon also see colors when communicating in sign language , providing some tantalizing clues as to the neural mechanisms behind this neurological eccentricity .
Exactly what causes synesthesia is not yet full empathise , although several theories have been floated . Among the most pop is eff as thecross - activation theory , which submit that synaesthesia results from inefficient “ synaptic pruning ” in the develop mind . This refers to the operation by which the connections between neuron are selectively destroyed as the mental capacity grow , assure that key nerve tract do n’t get conflate up with one another . When this neural gardening is n’t fill in , however , separate psyche region may rest affiliated , extend to cross - activating and a premix - up of info .
To test out how deep ingrained synaesthesia is , the researcher recruited 50 participant with varying degree of fluency in sign language . Of these , seven had synaesthesia , of which four were reported to see vividness while reading .
Describing their work in the journalNeurocase , the study authors report that all four participants with this character of synaesthesia also experienced colors when looking at hand sign of the zodiac jibe to letter of the alphabet – three of whom get a line the same colors for each letter no matter of whether it was written or signed .
Interestingly , not all four of these person experienced people of colour in the same way . Some discover the colors literally projected onto the paw and fingers of the signer , while others simply perceived these hues in their “ mind ’s heart ” . One participant had a pretty more ineffable experience , claiming to simply “ bang the coloration ” without actually seeing it .
The discipline authors believe a number of crucial conclusions can be drawn from this determination , suggesting that these two case of synesthesia “ do not develop severally , ” but are instead produced by a unmarried underlying mechanism . This , in turn , suggests that memorize new languages can ensue in young synaesthesic experiences , indicating that the extent of these strange symptoms is in no manner fixed or limited , but can be transferred between language modalities .
While this leaves many questions unanswered about the mystery of synaesthesia , it does at least supply one extra while of the puzzle , leaving researchers a footmark closer to ravel out the mechanics of the condition while also illuminating new insight regarding the brain ’s overall connectivity .
Image : Some people with synaesthesia are able to " see " go as color . Syda Productions / Shutterstock
