The jury is finally nonetheless out on what causes synesthesia, with Mushtaq noting that it isn’t effectively understood. As aforementioned, synesthesia could also be resulting from genetics in about 40% of the individuals, they usually have been merely born that method, however we’re nonetheless unsure why it occurs.
“In genetic instances, we see the mind has enhanced connections between completely different areas of the mind cortex related to senses,” Mushtaq tells mbg, including, “There are additionally instances of synesthesia which were reported that had sudden onset in maturity, for instance, brought on by hypnosis, drug exposure to psychedelics, or traumatic brain injury.”
And in accordance with Winter, it is particularly obscure as a result of it presents so otherwise amongst people. Some could expertise synesthesia in a wide range of methods, whereas some could solely expertise it a technique, for instance. “No matter it’s, it may very well be on a continuum or a spectrum,” he says, including that it is vital to recollect it isn’t a pathology.
