Science AMA Series: Hello Reddit! We’re psychologist Dr. Duncan
Carmichael (Univ. of Sussex, UK) and geneticist Dr. Amanda Tilot (Max
Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Netherlands), and we’re here to
chat about the genetics of synesthesia! AMA!
Abstract
Purple Tuesdays, words that taste like buttered toast, or experiencing
the calendar as a winding line in the space around you - these are all
examples of synesthetic experiences. The synesthesia research field is
exploding, bringing together psychologists, neurobiologists, and even
geneticists to understand this neurological phenomenon. There are dozens
of different types, and it’s much more common than people think - about
1 in 25 people experience one form or another although many have no idea
that not everyone shares their perceptions. We’ve had an inkling that
synesthesia might be (at least partially) genetic for 130 years, but
we’re still hunting for the genes involved. Amanda is leading a large
scale study to find these genes, and together we’ve recruited over 50%
of our 1st goal - 1000 people who experience letters and numbers as
having colors. You can read more about our synaesthesia genetics work
here, and if you’d like to volunteer you can go straight to the project
page at www.mpi.nl/synaesthesia. Synesthesia studies and other good
links: Looking for areas of the genome linked to auditory-visual
synaesthesia Genetic overlap between absolute pitch and synesthesia
Synaesthesia occurs in about 4% of undergraduate students and is not
more common in women Synesthesia is more common amongst people with
autism University of Sussex’s synaesthesia FAQ The Synesthesia Battery
from David Eagleman’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine - Here you can
take a variety of synesthesia tests, and participate in research! On
Twitter: Amanda - @aktilot Synaesthesia and Sensory Integration lab at
the University of Sussex - @SASI_Sussex About us: Duncan (postdoc):
Since studying psychology at university, I’ve always been fascinated by
human behaviour and how the brain works. My research focuses on the
causes of synaesthesia, how it is related to health, and how
synaesthesia develops in children. Hopefully our research will help us
to find out more about synaesthesia itself and also a little bit more
about the brain in general. Amanda (postdoc): I first heard about
synesthesia during an introduction to neuroscience course in college. I
went on to spend my PhD studying a new mouse model for autism spectrum
disorder based on mutations in a gene we usually associate with cancer
(PTEN). While I was finishing grad school, I decided that I wanted to
stay focused on questions at the intersection of neuroscience and
genetics and began looking for a postdoc. I was excited to find that
Prof. Simon Fisher was working on the genetics of synesthesia
(synaesthesia in British English), and moved from the US to the
Netherlands to join his group last July. Send us any and every question
you have about synesthesia, and we’ll let you know what the data says!
I’ll be back at 11 am EST (8 am PST, 4 pm UTC) to answer your questions,
ask me anything! 11am: Hi everyone! Thanks for your amazing questions,
we’re now live! 1pm: Thanks to everyone for the really interesting
questions! I’m (Duncan) signing off now, but Amanda will keep going for
a bit! Thanks to James Hughes and Jennifer Mankin for their help in
providing additional answers. 2pm: Amanda here, signing off for now
(it’s 8pm in the Netherlands), thank you everyone for the fantastic
questions! I know it’s still early on the West Coast, so feel free to
add questions and I’ll try to get back to them this weekend. Many thanks
also to the terrific moderators for their help in arranging this
opportunity to answer your questions and hear your stories!