People who have autism are more likely to have synesthesia. Nearly 19 percent of people who have autism have synesthesia, according to researchers at Cambridge University in England. In comparison, only 7 percent of typically developing people have synesthesia.
Synesthesia is described as a “union of the senses whereby two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together," according to the UK Synesthesia Association. People who have synesthesia may hear colors, taste words and/or feel sounds. Watch the video which accompanies this article For a more detailed explanation of synesthesia watch the video where this article was first published.
Both synesthesia and autism involve "neural over-connectivity." Researchers at Cambridge University wanted to find out if there was a connection between the two syndromes because they both have neural over-connectivity. The researchers, from the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge, showed that a higher proportion of people who have autism also have synesthesia.
 |
| Diagram of a neuron |
People's brains have cells called neurons. Neurons have an electrochemical property. This property allows neurons to process and transmit signals or information in the brain. Synapses help neurons transmit these signals. People with autism have more synapses, which is referred to as neural over-connectivity.
"I have studied both autism and synesthesia for over 25 years and I had assumed that one had nothing to do with the other. These findings will re-focus research to examine common factors that drive brain development in these traditionally very separate conditions," said Professor Simon Baron-Cohen who led the research team.
"People with autism report high levels of sensory hyper-sensitivity. This new study goes one step further in identifying synesthesia as a sensory issue that has been overlooked in this population. This has major implications for educators and clinicians designing autism-friendly learning environments," said Donielle Johnson , a researcher.
More information about synesthesia is available from the American Synesthesia Association and the UK Synesthesia Association.
More information about autism is available from the Boston Children's Hospital and the Mayo Clinic.
The study, "Is synaesthesia more common in autism?," is published in Molecular Autism.
Sources:
This article was originally published by me on Examiner.com
©Mary M Conneely T/A Advocacy in Action
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments and questions are welcome!