A novel report has shown for the kickoff fourth dimension that people tin last trained to "see" letters of the alphabet equally colors inwards a means that simulates how those amongst synesthesia sense their world.
The University of Sussex research, published today (18 Nov 2014) in Scientific Reports, also establish that the preparation powerfulness potentially boost IQ.
Synesthesia is a fascinating though little-understood neurological status inwards which some people (estimated at roughly 1 inwards 23) sense an overlap inwards their senses. They "see" letters equally specific colors, or tin "taste" words, or associate sounds amongst dissimilar colors.
A critical fighting concerns whether the status is embedded inwards our genes, or whether it emerges because of item environmental influences, such equally colored-letter toys inwards infancy.
While the ii possibilities are non mutually exclusive, psychologists at the University's Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science devised a nine-week preparation programme to run into if adults without synesthesia tin develop the primal hallmarks of the condition.
They found, inwards a sample report of 14, that non exclusively were the participants able to develop strong letter-color associations to exceed all the criterion tests for synesthesia, most also experienced sensations such equally letters seeming "colored" or having private personas (for instance, "x is boring," "w is calm").
One of the most surprising outcomes of the report was that those who underwent the preparation also saw their IQ fountain past times an average of 12 points, compared to a command grouping that didn't undergo training.
Dr Daniel Bor, who co-led the report amongst Dr Nicolas Rothen, says: "The master copy implication of our report is that radically novel ways of experiencing the globe tin last brought close only through extensive perceptual training.
"The cognitive boost, although provisional, may eventually Pb to clinical cognitive preparation tools to back upward mental share inwards vulnerable groups, such equally Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD) children, or adults starting to endure from dementia."
Dr Rothen adds: "It should last emphasized that nosotros are non claiming to bring trained non-synesthetes to boot the bucket genuine synesthetes. When nosotros retested our participants 3 months afterwards training, they had largely lost the sense of 'seeing' colors when thinking close the letters. But it does exhibit that synesthesia is probable to bring a major developmental component, starting for many people inwards childhood."