I’m a synesthete, and for me that means I see certain sounds. Unlike the “most people” talked about in the article I linked, I wouldn’t mind not having this, um, I guess condition is the best word for it.
The best explaination I can find is that there are differences in some of the neural connections that make a person sense things with two senses when they ought to only use one. In my case some sharp noises are accompanied by flashes of color, mostly white, or black and white - like TV fuzz- and occasionally yellow or purple.
Most hearing loss is caused by damage to nerves, isn’t it? So if the nerves didn’t work for hearing something, they oughtn’t for “seeing” anything either, right?
It’d be nice to know if becoming old and deaf would have an upside to it.
Not all hearing loss is due to nerve damage, but the hearing loss most difficult to correct with modern methods is caused by damage to the auditory nerves (I think).
I can only think becoming deaf (or deaf-er) would reduce or deaden all sensations caused by sound, even synasthesiac ones. If this is untrue, I would be very interested in hearing of examples and a mechanism.
I have moderate hearing loss in my right ear, which has resulted in tinnittus (ringing in the ears). My ENT doctor said tinnittus is believed to be a response of the brain to a lack of input from the auditory nerve, so it supplies a tone to replace the expected sound. I hear a high pitched squeal all the time now, so that might be the result if your deafness was from nerve damage, and you might “see” that tone all the time.
All nerves are capable of reacting to all kinds of stimuli… so is it possible that this synesthesia is actually caused by the optic nerves being over-sensitive to vibration? If that was the case, then losing hearing would not get rid of the synesthesia.
Right. So, elfkin, though I am NOT a doctor, I am answering your question–hypothetically–that it is possible your synesthesia is happening in your optic nerves and has nothing whatsoever to do with your hearing. The fact that it only happens when there is an especially loud sound–creating especially big vibrations–supports my hypothesis.
Inertial dampers on your skull would help, if I am right.
In the optic nerve? No, I highly doubt that. Note that the article I reference mentions the thalamus and cortex. The cortex is a highly plastic area capable of responding to various stimuli and is molded quite significantly by the environment during development. The optic nerve is none of those things.
