WEBVTT - What is Synesthesia?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Saker. Have you ever heard a color or

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<v Speaker 1>smelled a sound? If so, don't worry. You are not alone. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>you're part of a group I consider superpowered. You have synastasia,

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<v Speaker 1>or you've done some crazy drugs, and maybe that's a

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<v Speaker 1>different episode. But when people with synastasia experience input from

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<v Speaker 1>one sense, it results in the experience of another sense.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're a synisty, like author Vladimir Nabokov, you

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<v Speaker 1>would associate letters with colors, grapheme color synastasia, that's what

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<v Speaker 1>it's called. And there are different types of synastasia. Napakov

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<v Speaker 1>called his color hearing. This grapheme color stuff is the

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<v Speaker 1>most common type, but cinnastasia can occur between just about

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<v Speaker 1>any combination of senses or cognitive pathways, and not every

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<v Speaker 1>everyone will experience the same type of cynist asia the

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<v Speaker 1>same way. So while the soft ah sound always seems

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<v Speaker 1>like fire engine red to one sinistete, it maybe cobalt

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<v Speaker 1>blue for others. Some people with this condition see music,

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<v Speaker 1>which sounds kind of beautiful when you think about it.

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<v Speaker 1>There are less common types, such as lexical gustatory cynast asia.

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<v Speaker 1>People with this condition taste certain flavors, dishes, or entire

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<v Speaker 1>meals based on a picture, word, or sound. Smells could

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<v Speaker 1>have colors and shapes to the list goes on. There's

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<v Speaker 1>mirror touch cynist asia, ordinal linguistic personification, and number form

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<v Speaker 1>where a person sees numbers as a distinct map. So

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<v Speaker 1>this is all fascinating, but how do people get it?

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers are still working on that one, but they believe

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<v Speaker 1>the condition tends to be somewhat inherited or genetic, as

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<v Speaker 1>about of sinistets have a close relative with cynast asia.

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<v Speaker 1>Most sinistets recall having the condition for as long as

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<v Speaker 1>they can remember. It might sound like people have made

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<v Speaker 1>pneumonic connections with sounds, colors are so on, but research

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<v Speaker 1>shows it is a genuine sensory phenomenon rather than a

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<v Speaker 1>memory exercise. For example, if we drew the number five

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<v Speaker 1>all over a piece of paper scattered with a few

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<v Speaker 1>two's forming a triangle, most people would have a hard

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<v Speaker 1>time seeing it. They would have to look closely to

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<v Speaker 1>search for the twos and then slowly construct the shape.

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<v Speaker 1>But a grapheme color sinistete can see this triangle almost instantly.

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers think that cinnast asia is a kind of cross

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<v Speaker 1>wiring in the brain. In graphine color synistets, seeing a

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<v Speaker 1>number stimulates your grapheme region and the area of your

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<v Speaker 1>visual cortex that responds to color stimuli. One theory is

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<v Speaker 1>that there are increased neural connections in the brain of

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<v Speaker 1>cynistats that could have been the result of less neural pruning.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what they call it neural pruning, while in utero,

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<v Speaker 1>even cooler is that there might be actual anatomical differences

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<v Speaker 1>in the brains of cinistat's, like increased white and gray

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<v Speaker 1>matter in their brains. One bit of sad news for

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<v Speaker 1>all the non sinnistats out there. Although one study did

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<v Speaker 1>find that some exposure to color letters built up their association,

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<v Speaker 1>the effect didn't last, so people can't just catch synaesthesia.

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<v Speaker 1>But hey, it's not like all the cynistats have a

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<v Speaker 1>great time. It can be uncomfortable to see a number

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<v Speaker 1>in the wrong color, and one lexical gustatory synistats said

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<v Speaker 1>that if a certain name doesn't taste right to him,

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<v Speaker 1>he has a hard time liking the person it's attached

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<v Speaker 1>to and it's time to talk about drugs. Don't act

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<v Speaker 1>like you didn't know this was coming. Hallucinogens might be

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<v Speaker 1>one way that synaesthesia can be manufactured. Several drugs can

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<v Speaker 1>produce vivid cynist asia in non sinistats, which might be

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<v Speaker 1>a key to understanding the condition. One researcher has positive

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<v Speaker 1>that in non sinistats, information in a multisensory area travels

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<v Speaker 1>back easily to its single sense area, but in sinistats

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<v Speaker 1>it gets a bit mixed up along the way. Hallucinogens

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<v Speaker 1>may temporarily alter the user's neurochemistry, confusing those existing connections.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, let's face it, going to a concert might

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<v Speaker 1>be pretty amazing for people with visually associated synesthesia. Check

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<v Speaker 1>out the brain stuff channel on YouTube, and for more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com.