Involuntary physical experience of a cross-modal association

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the phenomenon of synesthesia, characterized as an involuntary physical experience where stimulation of one sensory modality leads to perceptions in another. Participants explore personal experiences, general features, and implications of synesthesia, including its neural basis and memory associations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share their specific color associations with letters, numbers, and shapes, noting individual variations in perception.
  • One participant recalls realizing their unique associations during childhood, questioning whether others experience similar phenomena.
  • Another participant highlights the connection between synesthesia and memory, suggesting that synesthetes often have superior recall abilities linked to their sensory experiences.
  • Some participants mention the organization and neatness tendencies associated with their synesthetic experiences.
  • There is a mention of a paper discussing identifiable factors related to synesthesia, although some links are noted to be faulty.
  • One participant describes a unique experience of smelling shapes, indicating a broader range of sensory associations beyond color and letters.
  • A participant references another thread discussing case studies on synesthesia, expressing interest in the lack of common patterns in color and shape associations among individuals with synesthesia.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of personal experiences and interpretations of synesthesia, with no consensus on common associations or patterns. The discussion remains open-ended with multiple competing views on the nature and implications of synesthetic experiences.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations in available research and the variability of individual experiences, suggesting a need for further exploration into comparative studies of synesthesia.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those studying psychology, neuroscience, or sensory perception, as well as individuals curious about personal experiences of synesthesia.

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ABSTRACT: Synesthesia (Greek, syn = together + aisthesis = perception) is the involuntary physical experience of a cross-modal association. That is, the stimulation of one sensory modality reliably causes a perception in one or more different senses.

1. Introduction
2. General Features
3. History Of Synesthesia
4. Clinical Diagnosis
5. Lack Of Obvious Agreement
6. Neural Basis
7. Form Constants
8. The Implications Of Synesthesia Regarding The Primacy Of Emotion
9. The Rejection Of Direct Experience
10. Future Issues For Research

http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-10-cytowic.html

for me,
A is red
C is yellow
J is green
L is purple/lilac
S is pink
G is rust
T is orange
 
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When did you first realize that 'A is red' for you, but not everyone (anyone?) else?

Is it only letters+colours for you?
 
I've asked other people if they associate colors for letters and what those would be. I just figured everyone would have different colors, not sure at what age, but I remember thinking about it as a child.

Under general features:2.8 Not only do most synesthetes contend that their memories are excellent, but cite their parallel sensations as the cause, saying for example, "I know it's 2 because it's white." Conversation, prose passages, movie dialogue, and verbal instructions are typical subjects of detailed recall. The spatial location of objects is also strikingly remembered, such as the precise location of kitchen utensils, furniture arrangements and floor plans, books on shelves, or text blocks in a specific book. Perhaps related to this observation is a tendency to prefer order, neatness, symmetry, and balance. Work cannot commence until the desk is arranged just so, or everything in the kitchen is put away in its proper place. Synesthetes perform in the superior range of the Wechsler Memory Scale.

This and especially the last part about neatness is true for me.
 
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Funny, for me it's numbers. I associate the number 4 (and squares) with the color blue. The number 3 (and equilateral triangles) are red, etc. The color associations are not really strong, but even as a young child, I associated numbers with regular shapes in plane geometry (eventually, my favorite course in HS).
 
I smell shapes, from grape squares and lemon triangles, to patchouli swirls. It wasen't until zoob started a thread on this subject that I really had to {admit} look closely at myself.
 
Here is another thread on this topic with more case studies presented:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=77376&highlight=synesthesiaI find it interesting that looking at the limited information presented, there is no pattern that different people associate colors, shapes, numbers the same way. Has anyone conducted research on comparative experiences of those with synesthesia ?