Brain Training Can Teach Synesthesia-Like Perception?

[Maebius]

Totally offtopic.  (or is it?)  .. but wanted to share with you MD folks.

 

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/brain-training-can-teach-synesthesia-perception

 

 

Neat!    I'm trying it this week.  :P  So far, no luck...

 

[Muratus del Mur]

answer to the title: YES, totally, but i believe you need a certain inclination to it to make it work.

 

i've analyzed my own synesthesia (numbers vs colors vs proportions) and after many years i concluded that "its normal"...its just not very common. 

Certain brain areas jump to help other parts. So..lets say you have 20units working on a number related task, and 40 idle that would normally process just colors. "Normal" people would use 20unit to process numbers and just that. some people, force their limits and make part of other brain areas to jump in and help. These extra brain power will have its own specifics, and will sometime bring new ways of analyzing information.

 

For example, for me number 4 and yellow are almost the same. If i see a deformed rectangle,it will have a number associated to it, but because the information is processed by neurons not usually occupied with visual data, it will also have additional information attached to it..such as..feelings. I can positively say that some shapes make you feel more confortable while other shapes can stress you.

 

My weakest point is language. I was semi retard in that aspect, but slowly other parts of my brain took over language processing and i compensated...not only that i compensated, but i could master 2-3 multiple meanings within same phrase, rhyme, and stuff like that, just by using other brain power such as color and shape dedicated areas.

 

However when i am tired, those brain sections can't connect to each other same way, and i return to be a retard in talking , almost like now , when i find it difficult to write this post. I assume its also my main problem why i can't read a lot of text..not sure yet.

 

anyway. With exercise and will, you could train your brain to join forces of multiple areas and manifest synethesia like symptoms

[Rophs]

if the number 4 is yellow then what if I do something like this...

 

4

does it "seem" different from a

4

[Muratus del Mur]

yeah it looks like 4,5 orange

5 is red for me

i could be easily fooled to think that 4 is greater than 4 but lower than 4

[Azrafar]

I think long lasting synesthesia (the one that is learned during childhood) is mostly heridetry. Certain gene (allele) combinations can increase the sensitivity towards it. Given a general environment those more sensitive develope it. If we train children, in a special synesthesia inducing environment then they might develope it too.

As it was mentioned, adults lose synesthesia if not properly maintained. It must be developed in early life.

 

 

i could be easily fooled to think that 4 is greater than 4 but lower than 4

So it would be harder to read a text that has letters with not the associated colour, right? How about a text that is coloured according to your preferences? Would it be easier to read?

Edited November 21, 2014 by Azrafar

[Muratus del Mur]

Never tried..probably.

I know i am a lot more influencible by subliminal

messages done this way by an other people with

similar ability.. but i also have a huge chance to 

spot such 'messages'. The advantage is that i can

"Use" this to put secondary meanings to things..

These meanings are not received in a conscious way

but they have visible effect.

 

I can spot for example the hidden influences of a logo,

and i must say i saw many such messages in advertising

clips and such.

 

Probably if someone could feed me a well designed

message i would react to it..but idk..

 

Making customized messages like this is quite rare ability

[Azrafar]

The advantage is that i can

"Use" this to put secondary meanings to things..

These meanings are not received in a conscious way

but they have visible effect.

 

You mean you observed that this works (changes behaviour) on non synesteths too ?

 

About personal messages. I think for a very good one the writer has to know your associations.

I guess different synesteths have different associations (unless they were trained with the same method). So for them to recognise each others shidden message or write one to the other seems difficult (some assotiations may overlap)

Also, messages and logos made by non-synesteths may give you a pattern, a message that was unintentional (a random emergin pattern).

I can't imagine how you see things, but I guess you recognise a much more patterns that I do. How do you distinguish between intentional messages and random patterns?

( I have seen a lot of conspiracy theories born from the "missuse" of human pattern recognition :P )

[Muratus del Mur]

yes, messages with such meaning are received by people without synesthesia, and they react. The only difference is that for me is clear why i receive a certain 'message' but for them its not.

 

My mother had this same thing, but had the colors totally different associated, its interesting.

I made a survey in md once and it was over 60% of the people that answered they feel there is a strong connection between the given numbers ad colors. It might be that y 'messages' in md gathered people more inclined to such things, or that indeed there are a lot of people that find such asociations obvious...i don't know.

 

I use such things in md for example in the proportions of the interface, it causes a feeling of "home"/confort, associated with the goldish color and number 4. Also red is used for accent. An other number that has similar resonance is 120, and its used, a lot...many things i wont detail here and now, but all i can say is that for me shapes numbers and colors are almost same material and i am careful when using them together, everything points towards the meaning i want to achieve.

 

i see it as normal thing to do as long as i see things clear in my own personal way...even if some might see it as subliminal messages, brainwashing or whatever crap..i see it as a way of communication, like artworks and music, this is the same, just uncommon.

btw, when i was little i was doing simple math exercises using colors in my mind, not numbers.. now i can't do that anymore..even if 3 (green) and 4 (yellow) have something to do with 7 (blue)..for bigger numbers it gets fuzzy. Not unclear ..however hard to explain in words what 'color' 198073 is for example. (a shiny metal purple-dark blue spark that fades away to a muddy water pastel blue)

[Azrafar]

This is so interesting.  :))

 

 

 

I use such things in md for example in the proportions of the interface, it causes a feeling of "home"/confort, associated with the goldish color and number 4.

 

 

Well it actualy does feel good to look at the interface you designed. Hmmm... I never realy realised it. People might realy have some some shared associations subconscious, it might be from the similar cultural influences. Maybe this yellow, goldish colour is why people are fascinated with gold (and that is why have decorated their mansions with it)? 

 

Edit: Oh, the walls of my room are yellow too  :P

Edited November 22, 2014 by Azrafar