Can I smell the music? Can! Moreover, we are not talking about such a dubious activity as trying to sniff, for example, a symphony orchestra... By the way, most likely, the composition of a symphony orchestra should smell decent. At least before the concert ended... And we are talking about people who sense, and very clearly sense, smells, well, for example, while listening to music.
Immediately test yourself and listen to how the number pi sounds. If something like this has ever happened to you, Plump congratulates you! You are a synesthete . This is a stupid test for synesthesia, of course. In reality, everything is much more complicated.
A characteristic feature of synesthesia
It is immediately necessary to make a reservation and note the fact that synesthesia is not a mental disorder. This is not a disease, but rather a feature of a particular person’s perception of the world around him. There are quite a few varieties of this neurological phenomenon. Because humans have many sense organs. A small number of people see colors when listening to music. Some people, looking at the numbers, hear music... New types of synesthesia, thanks to modern research methods, are still being discovered... Maybe because modern man has stopped hiding his “abnormality”? Now it’s “normal” to be “not normal”...
Grapheme-color synesthesia
Graphemes are images. Images of numbers, letters. By the way, this is the most deeply studied type of synesthesia. But because scientists know a lot about the visual system. In addition, it is the easiest to study. In all cases of grapheme-color synesthesia, it is individual. Strictly individual. And the most interesting thing is that the correspondence between graphemes and colors does not change for one person. Although extensive research into this phenomenon has established some repeatability. So the letter “A”, most likely, will be seen by the majority as red... Imagine, a person sees numbers and letters in color. The same numbers and letters in the same color.
And here’s another: Roskomnadzor
Why does synesthesia occur? A little about theories
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How does synesthesia manifest?
People who are distinguished by such an unusual way of perception are called “synaesthetes” or “synaesthetics” (I prefer the first, less “hospital” term). For each synesthete, the phenomenon of synesthesia can develop very individually and can have both single and multiple manifestations. In the latter case, the synesthete is called “multiple” or “multi-aspect” - when synesthesia occurs not for one, but for several groups (categories) of symbols or phenomena.
There is “projective type” synesthesia, in which the synesthete actually sees or feels colors, smells and other additional qualities as if on top of the objects of the world perceived by the senses. In contrast to this type, the “associating” type is distinguished, in which the synesthete subjectively experiences additional qualities in the form of involuntary knowledge or in the form of a reaction at the level of persistent impressions, which are not physically expressed - that is, in the form of projections. True, such a division is very arbitrary - intermediate variants of synesthetic perception can often be found.
For example, what color is the cold water valve? You will probably answer: “Blue.” After all, this knowledge is formed by your experience: a cold tap is most often indicated by the color blue. But in fact, the color of the faucet and the temperature are not identical and do not depend on each other in any way. A synesthete also has the feeling that certain objects, symbols, sounds have some qualities that are not associated with them in the sensations and experiences of other people. But unlike your blue faucet, a synesthete cannot remember exactly what formed the connections between his sensations.
The formula “stimulus-response” is traditionally adopted in naming the types of manifestations of synesthesia. That is, if you hear that someone has “grapheme-color” synesthesia, it means that he or she sees or feels images of letters or numbers in color. If you yourself perceive music in the form of naturally and involuntarily manifested color spots, stripes, waves, then you are a “musical-color” synesthete.
The term “color hearing,” although preserved to this day, is still not entirely accurate: it can mean a color reaction to both music and speech, and until a certain time it was generally synonymous with synesthesia in all its manifestations without exception - probably , for the sole reason that other types of synesthesia have been little studied or completely unknown. There are other classifications of types of synesthesia. For example, it seems logical to me to divide the manifestations of synesthesia into more basic, sensory ones (for example, speech sounds or emotions) and more conceptual, “abstract” ones (for example, days of the week or numbers). This division, in my opinion, focuses the researcher's attention on the mechanisms around the immediate cause of the phenomenon of synesthesia itself: on the primary, preconscious categorization.
Synesthesia is experienced involuntarily - that is, against the will of the synesthete. However, most synesthetes can create synesthetic sensations in themselves by recalling those concepts or phenomena that usually give rise to synesthesia in them. It is impossible to do this without recalling characteristic concepts or phenomena.
Most often, people have synesthesia for as long as they can remember: from early childhood . Most likely, the development of synesthesia is beyond the time threshold of so-called infantile amnesia. True, some synesthetes claim that they can directly point to the moment in their lives when they first experienced synesthetic sensations. I don't rule out this possibility. However, I assume that it is not the very first synesthetic sensations that are remembered, but, most likely, those that made a greater impression than usual. Another, more complex explanation could be the phenomenon of transfer, in which, for example, a synesthete child who perceives individual speech sounds in color, when learning to read, begins to “see” written letters in color - after all, each of them already has a “color” for him. » sound. It is this moment that is remembered as the beginning of synesthesia, without essentially being one.
So, if your sensations are characterized by the above descriptions, that is, they are involuntary, constant, appear in the form of “elementary” qualities (bursts of color, volume, texture, etc.) and you cannot trace how and when they you have, then most likely you are the owner of congenital synesthesia.
Synesthesia: normal or pathological?
Synesthesia, although extremely unusual, is quite common. According to some researchers, the maximum number of synesthetes is 4 percent. This means that out of a hundred people among us, four - one in twenty-five - may have synesthesia in one form or another. I myself consider these statistics to be a little overestimated due to the fact that the method and place of its collection were not chosen quite adequately (the museum of the largest city). A figure of 0.05% seems more realistic. However, the figures, even with such a sample, do not at all speak in favor of the sweeping and stereotypical conclusion of medical enthusiasts. In addition, I am sure that synesthesia has nothing to do with the costs of medical insurance, reporting to district clinics or sick leave.
Of course, we want everyone around us to think and feel the same. Like all “normal” people. Therefore, even in large publications, sometimes there are small outbreaks of psychological discrimination in the form of variations of the phrase “suffer from synesthesia syndrome.” But since such passages are in no way substantiated and a large number of facts indicate the opposite, this is written out of nothing more than ignorance.
The answer to the question about pathology can be given from at least two positions: from the point of view of scientific conclusions and on the basis of common sense. In the case of synesthesia, these perspectives are almost identical.
Synesthesia may be a symptom of a neurological disorder, but it is not a pathology in itself. Compare this with mathematical abilities and numeracy skills: their presence, absence, or exaggerated manifestations can, along with other signs, serve as signals of special development. But their highly uneven distribution among people of different professions and mentalities is not a reason to diagnose all mathematicians. I would like to emphasize that synesthesia is not included in the list of illnesses listed in the latest edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) or in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) - unlike claustrophobia, exacerbation of appendicitis, stomach ulcers or banal depression.
There is no evidence in history that the writer Vladimir Nabokov, physicist Richard Feynman, composers Franz Liszt, Jean Sibelius and Olivier Messiaen complained of unusual sensations or sought medical help for them. Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who enriched his science, and at the same time the entire world community, with the concepts of “autism” and “schizophrenia,” had grapheme-color synesthesia. However, he never put the features of his own perception - which he himself called secondary sensations - on a par with the main objects of his research.
The prevalence of synesthetic reactions, their diversity and the associated individual manifestations of such cognitive abilities as memory, imagery, sensation and imagination give every reason to call synesthesia an insufficiently studied inclination that manifests itself at a very early age. A deep and systematic study of this inclination will help shed light on our understanding of the connection between abstract thinking and the sensory sphere.
What is the significance of synesthesia?
My close and friendly communication with more than a dozen synesthetes revealed to me an amazing fact: the meaning of synesthesia for the synesthete himself can vary from complete indifference to it to exalted admiration for it. All this depends on personal characteristics, worldview and experience. That's probably how it should be. The less a phenomenon is studied, the more personal interpretations its understanding becomes saturated with.
Synesthesia may be the main property of perception around which the inner world of a synesthete, his creativity and relationships with other people unfold. Sometimes the opposite happens: synesthesia can be avoided, hidden and cause complexes, feelings of inferiority or doubts about one’s “adequacy”. In both cases, it is important to have educational materials, joint communication, the ability to understand one’s unique properties, not only and not so much synesthetic, but also those that manifest themselves in the comparison of all personal qualities, seeing oneself holistically, in development, in relation with others. Then synesthesia does not acquire the flair of a mysterious gift, does not become an annoying ballast or a worthless curiosity, but appears as an individual feature of perception, a significant skill and trait that can develop harmoniously.
The phenomenon of synesthesia is also important for culture and art. This is a very developed topic, and I can only superficially retell its most general points, without claiming to have a complete understanding.
First of all, synesthesia as a method of creativity or, more precisely, as a worldview is very common in the works of romanticism and symbolism. It provides the basis for the formal methods of abstractionism and turns out to be the effect for which the technical solutions of some modern multimedia works are designed. Probably, turning to intersensory connections returns the fullness of sensations to the work, freeing it from the boring one-dimensionality and “knurled” practice of self-expression that appears in a genre or movement due to repetitions at previous stages of art development.
Any work claims to build an integral world - that is, to one degree or another, it is synaesthetic. Therefore, in my opinion, it is important to understand the very reason for the artist’s declaration of his works as synesthetic or intersensory. For the romantics, this could be a programmatic step, marking a break with the stiffness of the era of classicism and manifested itself in a wave of experiments with sensuality against the backdrop of protests against the rationalism that dominated the knowledge of the world. In turn, if not for Kandinsky’s synaesthetic manifestos, abstractionism would have quickly exhausted the means available to vision and canvas. In this case, synesthesia contributed to the establishment of completely new connections between subjective experience and its display - updated symbolism of abstract forms and colors. What is important for multimedia artists is the claim to the fullness of the virtual space they create and the attempt to escape by including senses other than vision from a pixelated world without shadows and gravity.
Another important cultural meaning of synesthesia—and in this case I am talking about the phenomenon of involuntary synesthesia—is the experience of mystical revelation. Most likely, the first reports of synesthesia were perceived in this way. If you think about the fact that some manifestations of synesthesia are similar to the description of “auras” and “emission of energies”, that before the mass spread of writing, the overwhelming number of books were of a religious nature, and music accompanied mainly religious events or was a relative rarity, then synesthesia could be perceived as physical confirmation of the existence of another world and the proximity of some people to sacred sources and actions, that is, to the knowledge of something inaccessible to others.
In the framework of scientific research into the human psyche, the significance of synesthesia, in my opinion, has not yet been properly appreciated either in foreign or Russian psychology. The fact is that researchers often pay attention to the more visible, manifesting side of synesthesia: the coloring of music, the visualization of a sequence of number series or time units. Of course, these manifestations are very important, but not only as a fact, but also as a possibility of the human mind - random or natural. However, it is even more important to try to understand the condition and basis of its occurrence in the context of a holistic, systemic understanding of the human nervous system.
In my opinion (I will greatly simplify my position here), the study of synesthesia can shed light not only on specific questions about the characteristics of memory, attention or perception of a person, but also, taking into account, on the one hand, the symbolic nature of synesthesia, and on the other, its unity with the unconscious mechanisms of the psyche, to contribute to our understanding of such strictly human manifestations as symbolization, abstract thinking, the connection between thinking and sensations, and their natural interaction. That is, the study of synesthesia can, in essence, reveal some aspects of the balance between freedom and determinism, which allows us to get rid of environmental dependence, but nevertheless keeps a person in adaptive tension and does not allow us to completely break away from pressing reality.
Synaesthetic mechanisms make symbols, signs and abstract concepts individually significant and at the same time physically real and universal, as if immersed in physiology and thereby acquiring self-sufficiency. The maximum program in the study of synesthesia, in my opinion, should be precisely this definition and identification of the synesthetic foundations of human consciousness.
Are we all “synaesthetes”?
All people have memory, but this does not give grounds to call us all “mnemonists.” The term exists to distinguish people with a special quality of perception. There is no more elitism in this than in the profession of a mathematician, who uses the characteristics and abilities of his mind for certain cognitive and creative purposes.
Terminological confusion, however, sometimes goes even further and leads to a confusion of two phenomena: involuntary synesthesia and intersensory figurative thinking, the connection of which, although subjectively seems obvious, has not yet been proven objectively and analytically. The flip side of this simplification is passionate attempts to classify famous personalities from the spheres of art and science as synaesthetes. Whether Wassily Kandinsky, Olivier Messiaen and Richard Feynman had or did not have synesthesia is the topic of a separate article. However, (different) answers to this question will not bring us any closer to understanding the very essence of the phenomenon: after all, among synesthetes there are people who devote their lives not only and not so much to creativity, and among the most outstanding artists, composers or physicists there were still not many synesthetes .
However, each of us has experienced what might be called a “synaesthetic insight”: a brief, fleeting experience in which an image or situation that captures our attention causes us to experience a new, inexplicable experience. For example, after watching a sad and gloomy movie, you can really feel a depressing physical state, and after watching comedies, you can really feel lightness and relaxedness.
The fact is that, probably, the meaning of the film turned out to be so significant for us that it caused not only an emotional reaction, but also literally captured us physically, so to speak, “overwhelmed” our feelings. This is probably what creative people experience when they are immersed in questions about the meaning of a particular situation and, being involved in it literally with their whole being, experience it so emotionally that it evokes new sensations in them, for which they select an original image. What kind of image it will be - visual, physical, auditory, etc., in other words, what sphere of sensations the “sensory projection” will fill - depends equally on the characteristics and preferences of the poet or artist himself, and on those accepted in his cultural environment ways of experiencing and expressing: the smells of the morning - in a playful melody, a declaration of love - in dance, the sounds of music - in color. The poet’s situation in this case is extremely similar to the situation of a synaesthete child trying to comprehend meanings that are still unclear to him using the innate capabilities of the body available to him.
On the other hand, from the education and upbringing system both abroad and in our country, calls to “develop synesthetic abilities” began to be heard when educational theorists began to discover with horror that the bodies of the majority of the children they raised began to anatomically repeat the shape of a chair and desks, and the intellect - a school board with formulas in a column. However, what was a great initiative gradually turned into another template and “paragraph in a manual.” In this context, the so-called “development of synesthesia” often comes down to the imposition of certain means of expression, very predictable for our culture (music and drawing), with the obligatory search for visual connections between them. At the same time, as a rule, the goal is not to teach the child fluency in the entire palette, the plasticity of sensuality, the logic of movement and the range of thinking - from touching the beating heart of a friend to the taste of snow and the feeling of weightlessness - everything that makes up the intellectual potential in his personally significant spontaneous manifestation and in the broad, unlimited sense of this concept. Is it worth talking about synesthesia as an educational task in this case? I think it’s worth it - unless, of course, this is another formal-theoretical attempt on the creative development of a child, in which intellectual and sensory boundaries, it seems to me, should not be imposed from the outside, but should be found or created by the child independently with the sensitive and very careful help of an adult.
How does synesthesia manifest?
People who are distinguished by such an unusual way of perception are called “synaesthetes” or “synaesthetics” (I prefer the first, less “hospital” term). For each synesthete, the phenomenon of synesthesia can develop very individually and can have both single and multiple manifestations. In the latter case, the synesthete is called “multiple” or “multi-aspect” - when synesthesia occurs not for one, but for several groups (categories) of symbols or phenomena.
There is “projective type” synesthesia, in which the synesthete actually sees or feels colors, smells and other additional qualities as if on top of the objects of the world perceived by the senses. In contrast to this type, the “associating” type is distinguished, in which the synesthete subjectively experiences additional qualities in the form of involuntary knowledge or in the form of a reaction at the level of persistent impressions, which are not physically expressed - that is, in the form of projections. True, such a division is very arbitrary - intermediate variants of synesthetic perception can often be found.
For example, what color is the cold water valve? You will probably answer: “Blue.” After all, this knowledge is formed by your experience: a cold tap is most often indicated by the color blue. But in fact, the color of the faucet and the temperature are not identical and do not depend on each other in any way. A synesthete also has the feeling that certain objects, symbols, sounds have some qualities that are not associated with them in the sensations and experiences of other people. But unlike your blue faucet, a synesthete cannot remember exactly what formed the connections between his sensations.
The formula “stimulus-response” is traditionally adopted in naming the types of manifestations of synesthesia. That is, if you hear that someone has “grapheme-color” synesthesia, it means that he or she sees or feels images of letters or numbers in color. If you yourself perceive music in the form of naturally and involuntarily manifested color spots, stripes, waves, then you are a “musical-color” synesthete.
The term “color hearing,” although preserved to this day, is still not entirely accurate: it can mean a color reaction to both music and speech, and until a certain time it was generally synonymous with synesthesia in all its manifestations without exception - probably , for the sole reason that other types of synesthesia have been little studied or completely unknown. There are other classifications of types of synesthesia. For example, it seems logical to me to divide the manifestations of synesthesia into more basic, sensory ones (for example, speech sounds or emotions) and more conceptual, “abstract” ones (for example, days of the week or numbers). This division, in my opinion, focuses the researcher's attention on the mechanisms around the immediate cause of the phenomenon of synesthesia itself: on the primary, preconscious categorization.
Synesthesia is experienced involuntarily - that is, against the will of the synesthete. However, most synesthetes can create synesthetic sensations in themselves by recalling those concepts or phenomena that usually give rise to synesthesia in them. It is impossible to do this without recalling characteristic concepts or phenomena.
Most often, people have synesthesia for as long as they can remember: from early childhood . Most likely, the development of synesthesia is beyond the time threshold of so-called infantile amnesia. True, some synesthetes claim that they can directly point to the moment in their lives when they first experienced synesthetic sensations. I don't rule out this possibility. However, I assume that it is not the very first synesthetic sensations that are remembered, but, most likely, those that made a greater impression than usual. Another, more complex explanation could be the phenomenon of transfer, in which, for example, a synesthete child who perceives individual speech sounds in color, when learning to read, begins to “see” written letters in color - after all, each of them already has a “color” for him. » sound. It is this moment that is remembered as the beginning of synesthesia, without essentially being one.
So, if your sensations are characterized by the above descriptions, that is, they are involuntary, constant, appear in the form of “elementary” qualities (bursts of color, volume, texture, etc.) and you cannot trace how and when they you have, then most likely you are the owner of congenital synesthesia.
Why does synesthesia occur? A little about theories
Scientists are always very careful about drawing conclusions about complex phenomena such as the human brain in general and involuntary synesthesia in particular. Today, synesthesia is studied “in parts,” fragmentarily. Someone, having chosen one specific manifestation, tries to understand it in more detail. Someone is studying the nature of attention and memory in a synesthete. Some study the anatomy of the brain and the dynamics of neural activity. Someone - the possible tendency of synesthetes to figurative thinking... The situation is further complicated by the fact that in Western neuroscience there is now no common theoretical basis - that is, such a pragmatic picture of the functions of the brain and their physiological basis that would be shared by most researchers.
Neurophysiology, neurochemistry, bioelectrical activity, cognitive styles, and individual functions of perception are often considered in forced isolation from the holistic picture of the brain (admittedly, it is not yet as clear as we would like). Of course, this makes research easier. But as a result, a huge amount of statistical and individual data has accumulated on synesthesia, which is extremely scattered.
Yes, original classifications and comparisons appeared, and certain strict patterns emerged. For example, we already know that synesthetes have a special nature of attention—as if “preconscious”—to those phenomena that cause synesthesia in them. Synesthetes have a slightly different brain anatomy and a radically different activation of the brain to synaesthetic “stimuli.” It is also known that synesthesia can be genetic, that is, inherited. And many many others.
Nevertheless - and maybe that’s why! — there is no general theory of synesthesia (a scientifically proven, universal idea about it) yet.
However, there are consistent, consistent hypothetical descriptions, which in science are called “models.”
At different stages of research in foreign neuroscience since the 1980s (and in Soviet/Russian neurophysiology since the 1950s), different versions of the explanation of possible synaesthetic mechanisms have been put forward. One of them was that in a synesthete in a certain part of the brain, the processes of neurons called “axons” - the conductive nerve pathways - lose (or do not develop enough) the myelin sheath. Due to the thinning layer of myelin “insulation”, neurons begin to inadvertently exchange electrical excitations, causing phantom synesthetic images of colors, smells, etc. Another popular explanation, which is still valid, is that in the brains of synesthetes, from early childhood, certain “neural bridges” are preserved that facilitate connections between the senses (this is the so-called “rudiments of synaptic pruning” hypothesis). Presumably, such connections are fully developed in infants, who perceive the world as a chaotic picture in which colors, sounds, touches and “signals” from other senses are mixed and merged.
However, both of these hypotheses - incomplete myelination and rudimentary pruning - have not gained universal support in scientific circles. Most likely, due to the fact that they do not fully correspond to our ideas about the psychological characteristics of synesthetic experience.
The thing is - and I've said this before - that synesthetic experiences are very selective
. For example, if a synesthete “sees” music or letters, or “hears” certain movements, then other sounds or signs on paper, as well as movements of a different nature, do not cause synesthesia in him. Can an infant “retain” neural connections to letters or music if he must first see them and learn to recognize them? The situation is similar with incomplete myelination: even if there is a local “network break” of neurons, can we explain the selective transmission of neuronal charge in it without explaining the properties of the entire network? In other words: could a gap "recognize" music or letters, or even be "aware" of the days of the week? Naive assumption!
To get rid of such contradictions, another proposal was put forward about the neural basis of synesthetic connections - using a particular example of grapheme-color synesthesia (coloring numbers or letters). So far, this explanation is the most common version of the neurobiological model of synesthesia. cross-activation (“cross-activation”) occurs between two adjacent areas of the cerebral cortex “responsible” for color and letters (or numbers) In this case, the “color zone” is functionally subordinate to the work of the “alphanumeric” area - either through preserved “infantile bridges”, or on the basis of incorrect or absent suppression of the work of the “color zone” (due to the release of special chemical agents-neurotransmitters, with the help of which neurons “communicate” with each other over “short and long distances”).
The main feature of this understanding of the mechanisms of synesthesia is the localization of the function, that is, the location of the observed function in a specific region of the brain. In this case, synesthesia occurs due to the fact that the zone of recognition of letters or numbers in the cerebral cortex is presumably connected with the zone of color discrimination, and the communication area itself is located somewhere in the middle: in the fusiform gyrus.
Note also that, according to the cross-activation model, synesthesia is an innate sensory phenomenon caused by mutation of certain genes. It is this mutation that causes the unusual joint activity of these brain regions. As evidence, the researchers note that, firstly, in the brain of grapheme-color synesthetes, in the communication zone, the volume of white matter (that is, the number of axons) is increased. Secondly, in specially designed tests, a synesthete searches for certain letters or numbers much faster than a non-synesthete. Thirdly, functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reveals high metabolic activity in this area.
The big flaw in this understanding of synesthesia is that it ignores at least three facts.
First, we must keep in mind that, as I have already said, synesthetic sensations are strictly selective. Secondly, many types of synesthesia must involve areas that are located at a great distance from each other. And thirdly, this model does not take into account the special symbolic role of stimuli that cause synesthesia - such as music, letters, names and other complex phenomena of human culture. These complex phenomena become possible due to the simultaneous work of many brain structures, and not of individual areas exclusively in the cerebral cortex.
As an attempt to develop an alternative model and reduce the theoretical gaps in the cross-activation theory, I proposed an integrative neurophenomenological paradigm for the study of synesthesia .
This approach in the broadest sense includes a consistent comprehensive study of both environmental influences and possible genetic predisposition, both cognitive (mental) and sensory characteristics, both subjective experience and objective manifestations of the phenomenon of synesthesia. The result was a model called Oscillatory Resonance Correspondence, or OPC. According to this model, synesthesia is an involuntary sensory manifestation of a specific neurocognitive strategy. Very simply, such a strategy can be described as an excessive or excessive reaction to stimuli of a certain kind. The peculiarity of these stimuli is that their “processing” requires the simultaneous combination of two skills: individual selection from a certain group (for example, recognition of a specific letter as such) and inclusion in a meaningful sequence (words, sentences, etc.). The application of skills in using systems of conventional signs (language, music, etc.) is always individual and situational, that is, they are fundamentally open in nature. It is this “openness” that gives rise to a special attitude towards them in a synesthete - a kind of tense expectation that a sequence (of sounds, letters, names, days of the week) can contain new and new elements and meanings. It should be noted here that we are talking about a child who does not know in advance how many days there are in the week or letters in the alphabet and what their combination may mean in each subsequent use. This expectation gives rise to excessive reaction.
The brain structures (basal ganglia), through which the dual skill of “recognition-inclusion” is realized, are anatomically linked to another structure - the thalamus, which gives experiences a sensory quality. Therefore, the thalamus takes this excess reaction upon itself - and the entire brain system interprets this as an additional sensation that corresponds to certain “signals” emanating from the outside from the sense organs. This happens not through linear synaptic discharges of individual neurons, but through the aggregate resonant capture—as if by a “general wave”—of some large clusters of neurons distributed over many areas of the brain by other neuronal groups.
Let's explain it even simpler. We can say that those brain structures that are responsible for recognizing elements (letters, numbers, touches, sounds) and incorporating them into a single whole - that is, a category - become so “overexcited” that they transmit tension back “deep” to the brain, where there are structures responsible for the perception of more elementary qualities, such as color, taste, smell, etc. Thus, in the perception of, for example, a letter, more structures are included than is really necessary - and an unusual connection of the letter with color, taste or a sense of volume arises. As a “sensual echo” of the most complex symbolic thinking. Each element of this model still requires careful confirmation. But now we can say that none of its provisions contradicts the observed facts about synesthesia and general ideas about the functioning of the brain. Moreover: the hypothetical foundations of the neurodynamics of synesthesia (referred to as the “synaesthetic factor”, according to A. Luria), identified in the ORS model, include most of the types of synesthetic experiences known today. And the general characteristics of stimuli highlighted in it eliminate the rough understanding of the interaction of heredity and environment in the development of neural activity as the basis of the corresponding cognitive skills.
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