Synesthesia more common than previously thought

[mbeyeler]

From NeuroscienceNews:

A little-known synesthetic ‘hearing-motion’ phenomenon in which people hear faint sounds following totally silent visual flashes may be more common than previously realised, according to a new study from City University of London.

Most synesthesias is rare, where stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experience of a second sensory pathway, occurring in around 4 percent of the population. However, the new City study found that such ‘hearing-motion’ synesthesias occurred in 22 per cent of people when tested and it is thought that they may occur subliminally, disrupting detection of real auditory signals.

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