http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7bVVQ0FZeys
If this is true it is positively amazing. Has anyone come across this before? Know any more about it ?
Yes! Synaesthesia! It's fascinating.
Google Dr Ramachandran in California or read his books for loads of interesting research. In fact here's his website:
http://psy.ucsd.edu/chip/ramabio.html
and here are some of his books on case studies in neuroscience etc. I'm getting one for Christmas. Yay!
Also look for the Boy with the Amazing Brain docu on YouTube for more on Daniel. It has an hilarious "visualisation" of how synaesthesia works, using an image of a brain and an "electrical charge" running between two points.
Last edited by seren; 18th December 2007 at 08:08 PM.
I had heard of synaesthesia but did not realise how amazing it truly is. I will try to have a look out for a book by ramachandran for the holidays. Thanks Seren
That is impressive indeed. I would like to see him work a more involved algebraic equation and see his speed. He must need paper at some point!
I don't think it would work for algebra necessarily. If he sees numbers then it might not be applicable to equations and stuff?
Yes that is what I am thinking. It is amazing but might not help push the current line of mathematical knowledge. Very interesting topic~
Synaesthesia is the involuntary perception of a sensory modality that is normally associated with another. So on hearing a particular sound a synaesthete may experience a taste or when seeing a number may also perceive a colour.
There seems to be several varieties of synaesthesia, one of which is emotion-colour synaesthesia. When the person sees different emotions in people they also perceive different colours associated with the emotions. It is postulated that this accounts for (or is one explanation for) why people see auras around people.
Daniel Tammet displays Savant Syndrome however, this is not synaesthesia.
Savants have an extraordinary ability is a certain area - often things like superb memory - but the over-development of their brain in one area is often compensated for by an underdevelopment elsewhere.
For example, a savant may be able to recall huge lists of numbers accurately because of the way that they encode their memory but give them a task like this:
12345
23456
34567
45678
and although they will be able to recall the list perfectly - they fail to spot the pattern that the rest of us can see. They memorise it in the same way as a list of random numbers.
This can impact on their day to day functioning.
.
The two (savantism and synaesthesia) aren't the same, no, but one characteristic of his savantism is synaesthesia. He associates numbers with colours and shapes- more than that- he perceives of numbers as colours and shapes rather than figures. That's synaesthesia. It's also how he says he does his feats of calculation- by seeing the number "landscape" evolve and change as the equation is resolved.Daniel Tammet displays Savant Syndrome however, this is not synaesthesia.
He does also have other "powers"- memory for example, but Fiona asked specifically about seeing numbers, and that is synaesthesia.
Wikipedia:
If you Google for grapheme synaesthesia a couple of papers come up. Daniel was tested by Dr Ramachandran and his description of the physical shape and colour of numbers was consistent. Note also that Daniel claims to be "intimidated" by the number 9, and in the documentary associates the tall buildings of New York with a host of scary number 9s bearing down on him. That's experiencing an emotion relating to numbers, and experiencing the world as numbers. He's definitely a synaesthete IMHO.Grapheme → color synesthesia is a form of synesthesia in which an individual's perception of numbers and letters are associated with the experience of colors. Like all forms of synesthesia, grapheme → color synesthesia is involuntary, consistent, and memorable. Grapheme → color synesthesia is one of the most common forms of synesthesia, and because of the extensive knowledge of the visual system, one of the most studied.
Last edited by seren; 19th December 2007 at 11:25 AM.
Well I only watched the clip but savant syndrome is what defines the ability to do advanced calculations etc.
He may well be a synaesthete too but synaesthesia (in this case perceiving colours with numbers) does not give the person the ability to do advanced calculations or perform extraordinary feats of memory.
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He really is a lovely guy:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/st...409903,00.html
If you know the Kate Bush song Pi, I wonder if it's about him?
The composer Messiaen apparently "saw" musical sounds as colours, and used the faculty while composing. Trouble is, would all listeners necessarily experience the same colour for a given note?
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