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ePaper created 2013-02-01, 09:35:07 | version 1.24.0
Research in Jülich 3|201218 Strong Networks Lead to Extraordinary Gift Some people’s worlds are a little more colourful than others. They see numbers and letters in colour. Or they taste or even feel words or sounds. This fascinating phenomenon is called synaesthesia. T his condition leads to an unusual linkage of sensory impressions in the brain. In an ongoing study, sci- entists from Jülich and Munich discov- ered that certain networks are in many cases more strongly linked in synaes- thetes’ brains than they are in the brains of non-synaesthetes. This gift also has a practical side. Many synaesthetes say that they find it easy to remember telephone numbers or addresses thanks to the extra colour code. “I have a very good memory for numbers,” says Frauke Schröder, who volunteered to participate in the study. “I find it very easy to remember birthdays or dates.” BRAIN TRAINING It has been known for some time that certain skills or even physical training leave behind traces in the brain. Learning how to juggle, for instance, changes the outer grey matter in the brain. The brain anatomy of synaesthetes is similar. Two years ago, Prof. Peter H. Weiss-Blanken- horn, a neuroscientist at Forschungszen- trum Jülich, discovered that synaesthetes have an increased proportion of grey matter in two regions of the brain. One is the lower right temporal lobe, a brain region specializing in the perception of colour, and the other is the left parietal lobe. “The interesting thing is that synaesthesia doesn’t just lead to a change in the brain region that perceives colour – it also affects the parietal lobe, which is responsible for linking different sensory impressions,” says Weiss-Blank- enhorn of the findings. He sees synaesthetes as a lucky acci- dent of nature. “In contrast to neurologi- Peter H. Weiss-Blankenhorn and Anna Dovern are investigating synaesthetes’ fascinating gifts. These people see letters or numbers in colour, or taste words.