- [Presenter] Hey, have you ever thought
a certain song sounded orange?
Do you feel like you can see music?
If so, you may have synesthesia,
a neurological condition that scientists
are still trying to learn more about.
The word means to blend the five senses.
People with synesthesia, known as synesthetes,
experience the world differently,
where their senses are hooked up to each other
in ways where one sensory source produces another result,
such as tasting sounds or hearing colors.
With that said,
here are six interesting things about synesthesia.
Number one, most are born with it,
and it runs in families.
According to Decoby Bancroft on ranker.com,
researchers think everyone is born with synesthesia,
but grows out of it in time,
with some developing it later on in life.
Both of these are called developmental synesthesia.
There are some cases
where people suddenly gain these abilities
due to medical issues like strokes, tumors,
or brain injury, known as acquired synesthesia.
The condition can also be inherited
with around 40% of synesthetes having
another close family member with it.
Scientists have even discovered a specific gene
on chromosome 16 that causes grapheme-color synesthesia.
Though they have yet to figure out why.
Number two, left-handed people and women
are more likely to have it.
Did you know that there are certain members
of the population more likely
to have synesthesia than others?
Again, scientists don't know why,
but studies in the U.S. have shown
that women are three times
more likely to have synesthesia,
while in the UK,
eight times more likely to have it.
And strangely enough, more synesthetes
are left-handed compared to the rest.
Number three, when sick, their abilities can change.
When a synesthete comes down with a cold,
flu or something like an ear infection,
it can affect how they experience their condition,
either strengthening or weakening it,
or making them feel out of whack and not right.
For example, a sound color synesthete
with a blocked ear may not only lose their hearing,
but the colors they usually experience may be different.
Similarly, if you have synesthesia
and are diagnosed with depression,
you might find that it temporarily leaves altogether.
Number four, there are over 80 different kinds of it.
Your senses can be linked to each other
and with other things like personality
in a large combination of ways.
While most people with the condition
only have two senses like sight and sound linked,
some can have three or more linked together.
According to better help,
there's been at least one case
where someone had connections between all five.
In general, there are two major groups of synesthetes,
projective and associative.
The first one is when you hear, smell, taste,
or feel the second sense,
like tasting blueberries when you hear
a specific piano note.
Associative means that you can connect a stimulus
with a sense in your mind,
but not experience it.
Instead of tasting blueberries,
the piano note will only remind you of blueberries.
Number five, you can teach yourself synesthesia,
there are many benefits to synesthesia,
such as boosting your memory and creativity.
According to psychology professor, Berit Brogaard
who has the condition herself,
you can teach yourself some tricks to learn it,
such as by associating two different things together.
It takes practice and patience,
but once you start associating two things together,
you can build new neural pathways in the brain.
We remember colors more easily than other things,
so it may be helpful to associate a color
with something to remember it.
You can also use meditation
or the practice of mindfulness to help.
Since mindfulness is about shifting
your attention to your senses,
learning to become aware of your senses
may help you to better perceive synesthesia.
And number six, ideasthesia vs. synesthesia.
Ideasthesia is an offshoot of synesthesia,
while synesthesia is when a sensory experience
is associated with another sense,
like seeing colors when you listen to music,
ideasthesia is when a concept like a letter or a number,
which aren't real things but abstract concepts,
trigger a sensory experience.
Like seeing a certain color.
Concepts can also trigger other concepts,
like a letter or a number
can have a gender or a personality.
They aren't senses, but they are ideas.
Do you think you have synesthesia?
Let us know in the comments below.
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As always, the references and studies used in this video
are added in the description below.
Thanks for watching and
we'll see you in the next video.