Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title Synesthesia’s Altered Senses Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet American Scientist Media type Print Duration/Length/Size 2 pages Country/Territory United States Date 1/07/20 Description Cognitive scientist Anina Rich came to study synesthesia, the phenomenon of respond- ing in an unusual way to a sensory stimulus, through a serendipitous fusion of interests. While in graduate school studying how the brain pays attention to visual cues, Rich helped a journalist who was writing about synesthesia. A note at the end of the subse- quent article invited readers to get in touch with Rich if they’d ever had a synesthetic ex- perience. At the time, the condition was thought to affect just one person in 25,000, “but within a week, I had more than 100 letters from people saying, ‘I do this! I didn’t know anyone else did,’” Rich recalls. Today, she heads the Perception in Action Research Centre at Macquarie University in Australia and the Synaesthesia@Macquarie research group, where she investigates synesthesia to learn about how the brain integrates information. Rich spoke with special issue editor Corey S. Powell about her research. Producer/Author Corey S Powell URL https://www.americanscientist.org/article/first-person-anina-rich Persons Anina Rich