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Episode 33: Synesthesia & Deja Vu

SYNESTHESIA:
A perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway

The term is from the Ancient Greek syn (together) and aisthēsis (sensation)

In 1690, John Locke made a report about a blind man who said he experienced the color scarlet when he heard the sound of a trumpet.

Synesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways (over 80 types)

There are two overall forms of synesthesia:
1) Projective synesthesia: people who see actual colors, forms, or shapes when stimulated (the widely understood version of synesthesia)
2) Associative synesthesia: people who feel a very strong and involuntary connection between the stimulus and the sense that it triggers.

Types:
Grapheme–color synesthesia or color–graphemic synesthesia: letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored.
Chromesthesia: everyday sounds such as doors opening, cars honking, musical notes or people talking can trigger seeing colors.
Spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia: numbers, months of the year, or days of the week elicit precise locations in space
Auditory-tactile synesthesia: certain sounds can induce sensations in parts of the body.
Ordinal-linguistic personification: a form of synesthesia in which ordered sequences,
such as ordinal numbers, week-day names, months and alphabetical letters are associated with personalities or genders
Misophonia is a neurological disorder in which negative experiences (anger, fright, hatred, disgust) are triggered by specific sounds.
Mirror-touch synesthesia: individuals feel the same sensation that another person feels (such as touch).
Lexical-gustatory synesthesia (rarest form): certain tastes are experienced when hearing words (volleyball triggers mint)
Kinesthetic synesthesia: a combination of various different types of synesthesia. Features appear similar to auditory-tactile synesthesia but sensations are not isolated to individual numbers or letters but complex systems of relationships.

Synesthesia may also give a memory advantage. In one study it was found that spatial sequence synesthetes have a built-in and automatic mnemonic reference.

Biological explanations: temporal lobe epilepsy, head trauma, stroke, brain tumors, meditation, deep concentration, sensory deprivation, or with use of psychedelics such as LSD or mescaline, and even, in some cases, marijuana

DÉJÀ VU:
An anomaly of memory whereby, despite the strong sense of recollection, the time, place, and practical context of the "previous" experience are uncertain or believed to be impossible

Some interpret déjà vu in a paranormal context )parallel universe overlap/exchange)

Increases with travel, decreases with age

Two types of déjà vu are recognized:
1) Pathological déjà vu usually associated with epilepsy or that which, when unusually prolonged or frequent, or associated with other symptoms such as hallucinations, may be an indicator of neurological or psychiatric illness

2) non-pathological type characteristic of healthy people, about two-thirds of whom have had déjà vu experiences

Possible Explanations: Temporal lobe epilepsy, simple partial seizures, migraine with aura, pathological dissociative experiences, drugs like amantadine or phenylproanolamine, Split perception, memory-based, cryptomnesia (reconstruction of a memory), dual neurological processing, dream-based

JAMAIS VU (opposite of Deja Vu) is sometimes associated with certain types of aphasia, amnesia, epilepsy, or delusion (Capgras)

DEJA VECU (meaning "already lived") is an intense, but false, feeling of having already lived through the present situation.

PRESQUE VU (meaning "almost seen") is the intense feeling of being on the very brink of a powerful epiphany, insight, or revelation, without actually achieving the revelation.

DEJA REVE (meaning "already dreamed") is the feeling of having already dreamed something that you are now experiencing

DEJA ENTENDU (meaning "already heard") is the experience of feeling sure about having already heard something, even though the exact details are uncertain or were perhaps imagined

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