Toward a Better Definition of Synesthesia
Current attempts to define synesthesia fall short of the actual experience
Posted November 3, 2014
Researchers and experiencers have long struggled with defining the hard-to-wrangle trait known as synesthesia. And media attempts are even worse. I'd like to take a stab at advancing a more complete, but still pithy, description.
For starters, the widely, and unwieldy, accepted definition is on Wikipedia:
"Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia ; from the Ancient Greek σύν syn , "together", and αἴσθησις aisthēsis , " sensation ") is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.People who report such experiences are known as synesthetes.
"Difficulties have been recognized in adequately defining synesthesia: many different phenomena have been included in the term synesthesia ("union of the senses"), and in many cases the terminology seems to be inaccurate. A more accurate term may be ideasthesia ."
And in the media, more confusion has been added to the conversation by using terms like "blended senses, phenomenon, mixed up senses, cross-sensory experiences" and egads, "condition" or "neurological disorder."
First of all, the vanguard of synesthesia agrees on two things: it is not a single trait but multiple ones more aptly referred to as "the synesthesias." And secondly, "trait," is far better than "condition," which implies one needs a cure for it, when it is either largely neutral or positive.
Synesthesia needs a better definition.
Now here's mine: The synesthesias are traits in which a sensory stimulus yields the expected sensory response plus one or more additional sensory responses.
Allow me to explain. I know from speaking publicly on this topic that people who are not synesthetes get the feeling that we synnies are missing the primary sensory response and only seeing or feeling or tasting the secondary response.
"You mean your 6 is always green?" one curious lecture attendee once asked me.
Yes, "6" is always green to me. But it is also whatever it is to normal people. Say it is a red letter "6" on a black background in an advertising poster. I see that reality, too -- I know it is red on a black background. My synesthesia then adds a secondary color -- in my case, green, either in my associative thoughts or field of vision.
Defining synesthesia any other way than acknowledging that the experiencers do get the normal response as well is a disservice to we synesthetes and implies abnormality, when in fact, we are like everyone else but get a "bonus" impression.
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Maureen Seaberg is a synesthete and the co-author of Struck By Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel .
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.