What effect does synesthesia have and can studying the condition make an impact on future research?
We are still unsure why the gene(s) for synesthesia have been passed on through evolution. However, its “high degree of heritability suggests the genetic mutation that causes synesthesia provides some significant evolutionary benefit,” according to Dayton (2012) and Brang (2011). Though some types of synesthesia can interfere with synesthetes’ lives, its effect is usually positive. Some of the benefits discussed by Gill (2009) are enhanced memory and increased empathy. And, as discussed before, the condition is prominent in artists and musicians, meaning it may create a propensity for creative activities.
Researching synesthesia will also help advance related fields of research. An article by Siri Carpenter states that “Synesthesia may help us to understand how the concept of similarity is embedded within the nervous system [and]... research on synesthesia will help raise the condition's visibility, reducing the risk that clinicians might mistake it as a sign of mental illness”. According to Beresford (2014), studying the condition’s effect on memory could have implications for research on Alzheimer’s and might even help patients with brain damage through teaching them associations commonly seen in synesthesia that will strengthen their memories. Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001) sum up the implications of synesthesia research nicely, saying that “Far from being an oddity, synaesthesia allows us to proceed (perhaps) from a single gene to a specific brain area… to phenotype… and perhaps even to metaphor… and the evolution of language, all in a single experimental subject”.