Synesthesia, a condition with genetic origins, affects few and is incredibly complicated. Informally, it is a relaxed, less severe form of Schizophrenia. In contrast to having all five senses overlap, causing hallucinations and delusion, Synesthesia occurs when two senses mingle, affecting one another harmlessly. This recessive gene influences approximately 1-5% of the population, where females are more heavily affected than males, and comes in roughly 20 different forms. Chromesthesia is a form in which certain sounds evoke a specific sound. Grapheme-color synesthesia is one of the most popular forms of the condition, where letters are matched with colors. A plethora of musicians and artists obtain this condition. However, it does extend to …show more content…
J.). Those who have Mirror-touch obtain the ability to feel what others feel simply by looking at them. Even watching an emotional experience of another can elicit similar feelings in one who has Mirror-touch Synesthesia. The exact same areas of the brain are activated when touch is initiated by simply seeing it happen. For example, if someone with this ability watches someone who is crying, they in turn will feel that emotional turmoil. The condition is called “Mirror-touch” because a sensation in one on their left side is felt by the other on their opposite side. “For some synesthetes an observed touch on the left cheek triggered a synesthetic sensation on their left cheek (anatomical correspondence), but for others the synesthetic sensation was felt on the right cheek (as if they had been looking in a mirror, a specular correspondence)” (Nature Neuroscience). This can boost empathy in the sense that some with this particular form of Synesthesia can actually experience what another person is going through, thus increasing their understanding of the situation. These Synesthetes literally feel what others feel. In the experiment, however, this phenomena was not experienced by the control subject, making …show more content…
However, it is absolutely necessary to question whether or not it is ethical or vital that Synesthesia is treated. It is not causing anyone harm, but even doing some good. Those with Synesthesia have been known to produce some of most incredible, iconic works of art of all time, such as Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, or Duke Ellington’s “Such Sweet Thunder”. Without amazing productions of these artists, influenced by their Synesthesia, a large portion of culture would be lost, the human race would lose an important piece of its character. In fact, instead of looking for a cure, it is more realistic that people would want to acquire this ability, seeing as it can provoke impressive creativity. Furthermore, those who don’t have Synesthesia, in the future, might go as far as to utilize genetic engineering to acquire it, or might even implant the gene into their children as to increase their future success. Then, however, the gene would not be so rare, and the talents it comes with would become ordinary. Prodigal people would be just like everyone else, their talents would become infinitely less significant. The elusiveness of the SYNSTH gene is what makes it and those who possess it ultimately
Butcher, Mineka and Hooley (2003) define schizophrenia as a brain disorder in which there is a failure of the brain's chemical or electrical systems to function properly, resulting in a variety of unusual neural twists, such as disjointed ideas, confused or disconnected thoughts, and sounds or other sensations experienced as real when they exist only in the person's mind. The prevalence of the disorder is estimated to be about one percent of the population in most countries including the United States. Butcher, Mineka and Hooley also note that there are no sex-related difference for the prevalence of schizophrenia among men and women with the exception of a slight difference in the average age of onset with men showing symptoms a few years earlier than women.
In a study done by V. S. Ramachandran and Zeve Marcus, seven synaesthetes and thirteen non-synaesthetes were tested on their personal effects of the McCollough effect (2017). Collectively, this study showed that the observations made could prove the possibility that the McCollough effect can take advantage of the color connections that synesthetes already possess to strengthen the effects.
The occurrence of synaesthesia in the adult population has been estimated between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 25,000. There has been evidence that women are more likely to have it, with around six times more females than males. Findings state there can be a genetic predisposition transmitted by an X-linked autosomal dominant gene. Through the more recent studies of synaesthesia they have researched a possible biological cause instead of damage to the brain. One of the propositions is the connectivity between brain areas that help to further the relevant sensory modalities. For example, color-phonemic synaesthesia might result from additional synaptic connections between brain regions that are responsible for processing auditory inputs and those involved in color perception.
Being a psychology student, one learns many amazing things that can happen to people. One of them includes synesthesia. Synesthesia is a natural occurrence where a person experiences multiple senses at one time. For example, somebody with synesthesia may see a color when somebody is talking to them. Another example is when they touch something, they also experience smell. This happens without the person trying at all. One of the most popular types of synesthesia is Grapheme. This means that people see letters and numbers in colors automatically without any effort. Most people with synesthesia experience it their whole life, so what implications does it have on synesthetes childhood, especially when being and school with other children who are considered typical students? We will look at several studies that have observed children with synesthesia and their experiences in the education system.
Mirror neurons have been one of the most exciting neurological discoveries in recent years. Some researchers have even gone as far as comparing the discovery of mirror neurons to DNA. Mirror neurons may be analogous to other human sensory systems and some believe that mirror neurons represent their own unique sensory system. Mirror neurons fire when a person or animal performs certain activities as well as when they watch another perform the same activity (Winerman, 2005). Basically, they allow animals and humans to imitate and possibly even learn from others. While the original studies were conducted in monkeys, recent research has extended the theory to humans and other abilities outside of basic motor movements. In this paper, research on mirror neurons in humans, language, and autism will be summarized. In addition, the limitations on this work will be discussed.
With the advent of this new technology doctors and psychiatrists may have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Well not exactly, but the state of the art new technology, Optogenetics, does offer an innovative new approach to the study of the brain, and, more importantly, the treatment of patients. The use of light had been surmised to be a valuable way to control cells many years prior by Francis Crick (Crick 2024), but no one had been able to pull all the pieces together. While it’s by no means perfectly safe: there are still uncertainties about the long-term effects and the level of specificity it offers can only control groups of neurons up to .3 (mm^3) instead of individual neurons. Optogenetics still provides benefits over our current pharmaceutical and surgical technologies with its specificity, both temporally and spatially. In light of these facts, doctors should consider optogenetics as a safe and efficacious way to treat neurological disorders unresponsive to current methods.
For many people suffering from a mental disorder they will at some point experience Auditory Hallucinations. People suffering from this will often experience voices that can be very distressing to that person and could cause that person to become withdrawn from society and will often isolate themselves from others.The hallucinations can affect affect any of your senses
If people seeking neurological enhancement are given access to these types of drugs many more ethical issues will be raised. Firstly, are these drugs even safe? Many pharmaceutical therapies for cognitive enhancement are relatively new, and therefore there is a severe lack of information about their long term usage. Of course, side effects are a concern with any medicine currently available to patients. However, not all drugs available deal with systems so complex as the brain and nervous system. The dangers presented are amplified greatly because of the importance and intricacies of this system.
There are many diseases and disorders that may affect the human mind. Some of these are serious, while others are minor and may not even be noticed. Some of the disorders and diseases to be covered in this report are delirium, dementia, and schizophrenia, also a discussion of specific symptoms and treatments available for the different disorders.
Increasing amount of research in recent years has added to developing knowledge of phantom limb pain (PLP). In this research proposal I aim to test the mirror therapy as an effective treatment in PLP. Phantom limb pain occurs in at least 90% of limb amputees. PLP may be stimulated by disconnection between visual feedback and proprioceptive representations of the amputated limb. Therefore, I will research both the neurobiology behind this phenomenon and whether illusions and/or imagery of movement of the amputated limb (mirror therapy) is effective in alleviating PLP of lower limbs. Mirror therapy has been used with noted success in patients who have had upper body amputation, but has not been determined in lower limb amputations. I would like to identify if form of treatment is equally effective in lower limb amputations. Yet, to consider mirror therapy as an effective means of treatment, one must understand PLP in its entirety. The main concern being if a limb is no longer attached to the body, how can neurons in the limb transport signals to the nervous system in order for the body to detect sensations? The biological significance of this project is to determine what occurs on the sensory level to cause PLP. Once that is discovered we can address whether or not mirror therapy is a plausible form of treatment.
Therapeutic touch can be learned by anyone. Those who wish to become practitioners take special courses. The practitioner is taught to center himself, physically and psychologically, where he can find within himself an inner reference of stability. The pupil must learn to assess the patient by feeling hot, cold, tingling, congestion or pressure sensations in his hands when gliding through another person's energy fi...
The movie "A Beautiful Mind" tells the story of Nobel Prize winner John Nash's struggle with schizophrenia. It follows his journey from the point where he is not even aware he has schizophrenia, to the point where Nash and his wife find a way to manage his condition. The movie provides a lot of information and insight into the psychological condition of schizophrenia, including information on the symptoms, the treatment and cures, the life for the individual and for the individual's family. The movie is effective at demonstrating various concepts related to schizophrenia, and provides an insight into the disease of schizophrenia.
It is encouraging that some people have beaten the brain disorder. Others manage to control its debilitating symptoms and independently function in society.
Physicalism is the position that nothing can exceed past what is physically present, and what is physical is all that there can be. This idea is reductive in that it suggests there is no more to the universe than physical matters, including brain processes, sensations, and human consciousness. J.J.C. Smart explains sensations as a means of commentary on a brain process. He believes that, essentially, brain processes and what we report as sensations are essentially the same thing in that one is an account of the other. He writes in “Sensations and Brain Processes” that “…in so far as a sensation statement is a report of something, that something is in fact a brain process. Sensations are nothing over and above brain processes,” (145). Though
Haptics is a recent enhancement to virtual environments allowing users to “touch” and feel the simulated objects with which they interact. Haptics is the science of touch. The word derives from the Greek haptikos meaning “being able to come into contact with”. The study of haptics emerged from advances in virtual reality. Virtual reality is a form of human-computer interaction (as opposed to keyboard, mouse and monitor) providing a virtual environment that one can explore through direct interaction with our senses. To be able to interact with an environment, there must be feedback. For example, the user should be able to touch a virtual object and feel a response from it. This type of feedback is called haptic feedback .In human-computer interaction; haptic feedback means both tactile and force feedback.