One in 25 people have synesthesia, perceiving the world in unusual ways. An experience with one sense automatically leads to perception in another sense: for example, seeing colors when listening to music. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and the University of Cambridge report clues into biological origins of such variations in human perception. They studied families with synesthesia, and describe genetic changes that might contribute to their differences in sensory experience.
Some people with synaesthesia may see sounds, while others may taste them or feel them as shapes. This kind of sensory cross-talk comes in many forms, and develops during early childhood. It has been known for over a century that synaesthesia runs in families, giving a strong hint that inherited factors are important.[...]
Professor Simon Fisher, Director of the Max Planck Institute, who led the research, said, “We knew from earlier studies by the Cambridge team that no single gene can account for this intriguing trait; even families who experience the same form of synaesthesia are likely to differ in terms of specific genetic explanations. Our hope was that the DNA data might point to shared biological processes as candidates for involvement in synaesthesia.”
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