Month: September 2022

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend and concludes this weekend on the topic of synesthesia. In this section, the idea that crossed wires in the brain (i.e., smells becoming sounds) can lead to enhanced functionality (such as memory) is explored. Is the human brain functioning at maximal capacity, or is there an untapped endogenous reserve? What will the natural evolution of the brain lead to in the future? Is exogenous enhancement the only way to increase capacity? View in LinkedIn

THE DREADED SPANDREL. “Before asking why a synesthesia gene might have been preserved through evolution, one first must consider the possibility that synesthesia may likely be merely epiphenomenal, and that the gene(s) involved may have served some totally unrelated purpose. It is also possible that the gene(s) may have been retained simply because they did not incur a great enough cost to be purged by selection, and could be an example of an evolutionary spandrel.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

EDGE OF NORMAL CURVE. “Another possible explanation is that synesthesia simply represents the tail end of a normal distribution of cross-modality interactions present in the general population. Partial evidence supporting this idea comes as sensory deprivation and deafferentation (i.e., loss of sensory input through the destruction of sensory nerve fibers) can lead to synesthetic-like experiences.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

COMPENSATION. “For example, after early visual deprivation due to retinitis pigmentosa, touch stimuli can produce visual phosphenes, and after loss of tactile sensation from a thalamic lesion, sounds can elicit touch sensations. More remarkably, arm amputees experience touch in the phantom limb merely by watching another person's hand being touched.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

PHARMACOLOGIC. “Long-standing evidence has also demonstrated that hallucinogenic drugs can cause synesthesia-like experiences, suggesting the neural mechanism is present in all or many individuals but is merely suppressed.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

LIFE ENHANCING. “Subjectively, synesthetes report these experiences are largely positive and engender facilitative benefits for creative aspects of their lives. Studies have indeed confirmed the increased incidence of synesthesia among artists and, relative to controls, synesthetes report spending more time engaged in creative activities.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

CREATIVE LINK UNCERTAIN. “While the link between synesthesia and creativity has received remarkable interest over the last decade, research has not yet directly demonstrated any causal relationship between the two and so the argument, at this point, remains seductive and compelling but not conclusive.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

SAVANTS. “Recently, research has confirmed numerous cognitive and perceptual benefits that are associated with synesthesia, any of which could be argued to produce a stronger basis for selection. As extreme examples of these benefits, two well-characterized savants have demonstrated remarkable memory abilities based on their synesthesias.” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

MEMORY SAVANTS. “Daniel Tammet used his synesthesia to memorize pi to 22,514 digits and Luria described an individual (“S”) with a prodigious memory based largely on using synesthetic associations evoked by the items to be memorized. “ https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn

IMPROVED MEMORY. “Such cases have led to the suggestion that synesthesia may exist as a foundation for savantism, and while Tammet and S are at the extreme end of the spectrum, synesthetes as a group also have demonstrated improved memories relative to controls, particularly for items related to their synesthetic experiences (e.g., memory for phone numbers is aided by number-color associations).” https://lnkd.in/dfc7eju View in LinkedIn