Prof. Vilayanur Ramachandran and Synesthesia

[gaddeswarup]

Last week I went to attend a talk by Professor V.S. Ramachandran in Melbourne town Hall about synesthesia, a condition in which otherwise normal people experience the blending of two or more senses (people who hear colours or taste shapes etc). Unfortunately a lot of the time was taken up in the opening ceremonies and speeches by politicians and Professor Ramachandran could only repeat part of what was contained in his 2003 scientific American articles (with
Hubbard);
http://www.sciencecore.columbia.edu/demo/web/resources/readings/
hearing.pdf

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0006B3C8-67E0-1E94-
8EA5809EC5880000&sc=I100322

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000C1460-6681-1E94-
8EA5809EC5880000&sc=I100322
The first is pdf file which gives colour pictures that do not seem to come from the next ones. He was earlier famous for his work on phantom limbs and thebook "Phantoms in the brain". His 2003 BBC Reith lectures can be accessed from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2003/lecturer.shtml
which also contains the following brief biographical sketch:

"He originally trained as a doctor and obtained an M.D. from Stanley Medical College, where he was awarded gold medals in pathology and clinical medicine. He also studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a Ph.D. and was elected a senior Rouse-Ball Scholar.
He has received many honours and awards including a fellowship from AllSouls College, Oxford. He is also a fellow of the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla and a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Behavioural Sciences at Stanford.
He has lectured widely on art - as well as visual perception and the brain -and is a trustee of the San Diego Museum of Art. He has published over 120 papers in scientific journals, is Editor-in-chief of the Encyclopaedia of Human Behaviour and author of a popular book on neuroscience, Phantoms In TheBrain.
Professor Ramachandran's work has concentrated on investigating
phenomena such as phantom limbs, anosognosia or denial of paralysis,
Capgras syndrome, and anorexia nervosa.
Although most of these conditions have been know since the turn of the century they have usually been treated as curiosities and there has been almost no experimental work on them. V.S. Ramachandran has brought them from the clinic to the laboratory and shown that an intensive study of these patients can often provide valuable new insights into the workings of the human brain. "
Eventhough I am just beginning to study about his work (I recommend reading his Reith lectures first), I get the impression that he may become one of the key figures in unlocking the secrets of the mind. If others have read his work, I would like to know since it may help me to
channel my efforts.
Thanks and regards,
swarup

[Niranjana]

gaddeswarup, You have put up a very interesting topic there! I am surprised why no one responded yet!

Really, I appreciate you for posting such intelligent topics!

[gaddeswarup]

Thanks Niranjana. The topic was new to me and I wanted to see how others respond. Later, I found the following article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1409019,00.html
This is a report of Guardian journalists after interviewing 10 leading scientists about their views of the next big developments in science. About four of them, including Professor V .S. Ramachandran believe that the next big developments will be in understanding the human mind. Professor Ramachandran's BBC Reith lectures have come out as a book "A brief Tour of Human Consciousness". The book has extensive notes. Regards.
Swarup

[aravindhan]

Thanks Niranjana. The topic was new to me and I wanted to see how others respond.
It's not new to me at all since I happen to be a synesthete. Synesthesia's not very well known in Tamil Nadu, and doctors initially thought I was showing signs of epilepsy. It was quite some time before it was recognised for what it actually was.

It's always interesting to see how non-synesthetes view the condition. I am fairly familiar with Prof. Ramachandran's work, but there are others who've written about it too. If people are interested, I'll try to dig out some references.

[Niranjana]

Aravind, you are a synesthete? Oh! I was actually hearing this term for the first time & was so surprised.
Ok, 1 question for you-
When & how did u find out about your rare condition?

[aravindhan]

Aravind, you are a synesthete? Oh! I was actually hearing this term for the first time & was so surprised.
Ok, 1 question for you-
When & how did u find out about your rare condition?

It became pretty obvious when I was three. I used to be totally mesmerised by Purandara Dasa's kritis, and everyone thought that was quite unusual for a three-year old. So when they asked me what I liked best about the songs, I said very enthusiastically: "The bright colours". What I found weird was that others didn't see the colours.

My father did a lot of reading to try and find out exactly what those "colours" were about, and he found out about synesthesia in a book about composers of classical Western music (a number of them are believed to have been synesthetes). At that time, most doctors believed it was a psychological condition but he found out that one of Charles Darwin's cousins had written a book about it in Victorian times which very convincingly argued that it was real.

[Rohit]

Yes, complete understanding of the functioning of human brain is going to be the next breakthrough in scientific research that would simultaneously unlock the true nature of human evolution.

[Niranjana]

Aravind, you are a synesthete? Oh! I was actually hearing this term for the first time & was so surprised.
Ok, 1 question for you-
When & how did u find out about your rare condition?

It became pretty obvious when I was three. I used to be totally mesmerised by Purandara Dasa's kritis, and everyone thought that was quite unusual for a three-year old. So when they asked me what I liked best about the songs, I said very enthusiastically: "The bright colours". What I found weird was that others didn't see the colours.

My father did a lot of reading to try and find out exactly what those "colours" were about, and he found out about synesthesia in a book about composers of classical Western music (a number of them are believed to have been synesthetes). At that time, most doctors believed it was a psychological condition but he found out that one of Charles Darwin's cousins had written a book about it in Victorian times which very convincingly argued that it was real.


Interesting!

Do u anyone else with a similar condition? Among your friends or in the family?

[gaddeswarup]

Frontline interviews V.S.Ramachandran:
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20060407005400400.htm