Synesthesia and Synesthetes

By Sean A. Day

Synesthesia is a neurological trait in which stimuli to an initial mode produce perception not only in that mode but also in one or more additional modes. Thus, for example, not only do you hear a sound but you also see it, or not only do you feel a touch to your arm but you also taste it. Approximately 1 out of every 27 children develops at least one type of congenital synesthesia, starting about age 6 years; thus, it is more common, for example, than schizophrenia in the general population. Yet, over the past decade, the internet and other media have been inundated with misinformation regarding synesthesia, as people conflate synesthesia with other neurological conditions, and provide explanations based upon religion, mysticism and/or pseudoscience. This book is based upon the latest peer-reviewed scientific works, in a manner accessible and understandable to the general public. The book starts by laying out definitions of the different forms of synesthesia, including drug-induced and resulting from injury. I then turn towards the main focus, which is congenital synesthesia. I first explore the types more commonly heard about, such as music-based and grapheme-based, including taking a look at some famous synesthetes. I then turn towards some of the rarer types, such as those induced by flavors or odors, touch, pain, and language-based types springing from words and time units. I include a chapter on things which can alter synesthesia, such as various drugs, or remove synesthesia, such as emotional trauma. Throughout all of this, I provide more first-person accounts of more different types of synesthesia than any other current book regarding synesthesia on the market, including from interviews and correspondences I have conducted over the past 40 years. In addition, I share personal accounts from my own life of growing up with synesthesia, and of being a synesthesia researcher.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BD55T2GQ
• ISBN13: 9798849880150
• Release Date: September 2022
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 175 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"