Synesthesia

 

In my own experience, as a student with musical talents, I had a lot of encounters with being synthetic, I see different colors in different genres of music. For example: metal rock is black, RnB is blue. Observing my older brother Kevin, I find that at most times that he he listens to our dad's iPad about Ted talks, he gets a pen, a small piece of paper, writes down notes and draws what was being explain on the video. I didn't  knew why he does that a lot, until I saw this research topic.

According to the article Lekshmi Santhosh wrote, which entitled Hearing Colors and Tasting Shapes, "there are two types of synesthesia: acquired and idiopathic. Acquired synesthesia is usually associated with epilepsy, occurring in four percent of temporal lobe seizures. Idiopathic synesthesia is the rarer, more interesting form. Found in around one in every 25,000 individuals, it is highly variable because each synesthete has different fusions of the senses. In some cases, temporary synesthesia may also be induced by head trauma, hallucinogens, and lesions to the medial temporal lobe of the brain."

In this statement, I think both of these two types of synesthesia are negative effects, they both present dangerous symptoms that may occur while experiencing synesthesia. Here are some more explanation from the article:

 Although synesthetes’ experiences vary greatly, “there is a certain constellation of behaviors,” according to Lawrence Marks, Yale professor and director of the John B. Pierce Laboratory, an interdisciplinary research institute studying effects of the environment on health. He explained that synesthetes display similar behaviors both in their childhoods and their adulthoods. As children, many are “closet synesthetes” because of the looks of disbelief or even punishment they might have received for trying to explain their condition. However, as they grow into adulthood and discover that the disorder has a name, many cease to consider themselves abnormal.

All synesthetes report “generic” experiences: They do not taste cinnamon or see gorgeous, detailed scenery — they experience pleasant or bitter tastes, see colors and patterns, and feel rough or smooth surfaces. Also, synesthetes report consistency in their experiences; for example, the C note always means red.

Several factors are linked with synesthesia, even though there is no particular “type” of person who is predisposed to it. 

Females are much more likely than males to be afflicted, and non-right-handed people are more likely than right-handed. 

Synethetes seem to have superior memories and diminished mathematical and spatial abilities, indicating that synesthesia is predominantly a “left-brained” function. Furthermore, neuroimaging studies have shown that the limbic cortex and the hippocampus are often over-activated in synesthetes.

    Having synesthesia is not a burden, I prefer it to be a good thing, because it gives us creativity, imagination and infinity of the mind. There are times that you may encounter bad moods, stressful days or nights, and even remember bad memories, don't let it control you, find inner peace in yourself and look for a quiet place to bring it all out. Prevent yourself from getting moody or emotionally depressed, because when that happens, you are going to have a bad day.