Description

In his new book, the thorough yet vivid treatise "Synesthesia or the diary writes blue July," Professor Thanasis Dinopoulos introduces us to the enigmatic world of synesthesia and our synesthetic fellow humans.

"The world of a synesthetic is certainly not dull. How could a person who sees their bank account in color become bored? Or one whose name, Elizabeth, brings to mind the taste of a thick creamy cake? When raindrops form a melody for them? For me, Tuesday is yellow, and Wednesday is green. Twelve has the color of ochre, but a bit brighter..."

According to Babiniotis dictionary, synesthesia is defined as the "state in which a stimulus," whether sensory or conceptual, "triggers not only the corresponding sensation but also another, allowing one to experience two or more feelings from a single cause (e.g., perceiving the color red while hearing the note 'C')." The testimonies of synesthetes, the rich illustrations, references from the international literature, and of course the impressive oversight of Thanasis Dinopoulos – which covers a wide range from the fields of medicine, physiology, and neuroscience to the world of literature and fine arts – along with his clear style compose a theoretically robust and simultaneously captivating book about synesthesia, "the most poetic affliction of the human species," according to the author.

Contents

Foreword by Ilias Koutsoukos

Leaving… with charming Synesthesia

Acknowledgments

Introduction

True Synesthesia

General characteristics of synesthesia

Examples of types of synesthesia

Color synesthesia

Grapheme-color synesthesia

Sound-color synesthesia (chromesthesia)

Auditory-tactile synesthesia

Personification

Sound-emotion synesthesia (aversion or phobia to sounds - misophonia)

Mirror-touch synesthesia

Lexical-gustatory synesthesia

Spatial sequence synesthesia, number forms

Auditory-motor synesthesia

Multisensory synesthesia

Pain-color synesthesia

Orgasm-color synesthesia

Olfactory synesthesia and memory

Swimming style synesthesia

Learning synesthesia

Neurotic synesthesia

The nature of synesthesia – Interpretative theories

Introduction

Association theory

Language as a synesthetic mediator

Undifferentiated neuronal activity

Linkage theories

The cortex of the cerebral hemispheres has an exceptionally uniform structure

"Synesthesia" as a physiological parameter of the perceptual mechanism and the completion of the image

The functional specialization of the visual brain – The solution of parallel processing

The problem of completion or connection

Hyperbinding

Two theories for the interpretation of perceptual synesthesia

Cross-activation theory

Long-range disinhibited feedback and re-entrant processing theory

Top-down influences in synesthesia

Synesthetic "higher" and "lower" levels – Synesthesia and learning

Ideasthesia or semantic synesthesia

Acquired synesthesia

Synesthesia induced by drugs and addictive substances

The serotonergic hypothesis for synesthesia

The immune hypothesis for synesthesia

Synesthesia, emotions, and empathy

Synesthesia can change or even disappear with age or due to other factors

Hereditary basis of synesthesia

Diagnostic criteria

When synesthesia becomes a problem

Synesthesia and hypermnesics

Synesthesia during sleep

Synesthesia, virtual reality, and pain management

Historical overview – The Renaissance of synesthesia

Synesthesia in the words of the synesthetes themselves (Selected cases)

Phenomena similar to synesthesia

Eidetic memory and other forms of hypermnesia

Illusions due to sensory deprivation

Synesthesia during meditation

Illusions due to temporal lobe epilepsy and midbrain injury - divination

Electrical stimulation of the brain

Synesthesia and other strange experiences

Projection of living characteristics

The sense of a presence

Synesthesia and Art

Synesthesia as a source of inspiration in art and literature

Synesthesia and creativity

Metaphorical synesthesia and art

The coupling of music and visual arts (color music)

Vladimir Nabokov – Speak, Memory

Wassily Kandinsky

Dionysios Savvopoulos

Scriabin and Prometheus

Olivier Messiaen

Synesthesia in In Search of Lost Time

Conclusions

Bibliography

Index