Neuroscientists at the prestigious Caltech institute discover a new type of “crossing of the senses” (synesthesia) that allows movement to be heard.
Melissa SaenzI was conducting an experiment with students in theBrain Imaging Centerof the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), when one of the students who participated in it said that he “heard sounds” in the screensaver of his computer. Surprised, Saenz decided to repeat the test with hundreds of volunteers and found that at least three heard noises such as tapping, buzzing or hissing when a series of dots moved on their screens. After talking with the four synesthetes, the researcher found that in their normal lives these subjectshear sounds associated with the movement of clouds or the flapping of a butterfly’s wings.
Although the cases of people who perceive numbers and letters as colors, even who taste sounds, are common, it is lthe first time that cases of auditory synesthesia are detected. “People with auditory synaesthesia are less likely than other synaesthetics to realize that their experience is abnormal,” justifies the researcher. “They are people who have a life witha richer soundtrack, and not so much people who live a radically different experience, “he said.
In subsequent tests ofmemory, the scientists found that auditory synaesthetists are more successful when trying to remember rhythmic patterns of lights similar to a visual Morse code. “They have an advantage because they not only see but also hear visual patterns,” says Saenz in the latest issue of the magazine.Current Biology.
Saenz estimates that 1% of the world’s population is likely to experience auditory synesthesia. And has enabled aonline test to detect iton the web www.klab.caltech.edu/~saenz/movingdots.html. If you hear sounds when you see it, there is no doubt: the parts of your brain that detect movement and those responsible for processing sound are more connected than usual.
