The American Synesthesia Association (ASA) is a not-for-profit
academic and public society whose mission is to foster and promote the education and the advancement of knowledge of the phenomena of
synesthesia
Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...
, a neurological condition in which stimulation in one sensory modality leads to experiences in a second, unstimulated modality. The ASA attempts to promote and provide a means for the people who experience and/or study synesthesia to be in contact with each other. As part of its educational mission, the ASA provides information to scientists, health professionals, academicians, researchers, artists, writers, musicians, lay persons and people who experience synesthesia.
Membership
The society currently includes about 200 members. Membership is open to anyone interested in the study of synesthesia, who experiences synesthesia, or who uses synesthesia in their art or published works. As public awareness of synesthesia has grown, the number of members has increased.
History
The American Synesthesia Association was created in 1995 by
Carol Steen
Carol Steen is an artist, writer and curator who lives and works in New York. She has had over 20 solo gallery exhibitions, her first solo exhibition in 1973 was at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and her work has been in over 50 group exhibitions ...
and
Patricia Lynne Duffy after discovering, through correspondence with
Simon Baron-Cohen, that there were other people in the New York metropolitan area who experienced synesthesia. The ASA was born out of a desire to meet other synesthetes, and to improve communication between synesthetes and researchers.
In 2000, the ASA was incorporated and received provisional status, 501(c)(3) in 2001. In 2005, the ASA received permanent 501(c)(3) status, and is now a Public Charity under the IRS tax code.
The Board Members of the ASA are Sean A. Day, Peter Grossenbacher, emeritus, Lawrence E. Marks,
Daphne Maurer
Daphne Maurer is a Canadian developmental psychologist and professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomen ...
, and Carol Steen.
Meetings
As of 2013, the ASA has held ten major conferences, with attendees from around the world, but mostly from the United States and Europe. The first meeting of the ASA was held at
Princeton University in 2001 with the attendance of numerous synesthesia researchers including Larry Marks,
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
Vilayanur Subramanian Ramachandran (born 10 August 1951) is an Indian-American neuroscientist. He is known for his wide-ranging experiments and theories in behavioral neurology, including the invention of the mirror box. Ramachandran is a disti ...
, Peter Grossenbacher, and artists and authors including
Patricia Lynne Duffy and Natasha Lvovich. This meeting was featured in the popular press, including ''
Time'' magazine and other media outlets.
They See Where Others Hear / To a synesthete, making sense is in eye, ear, nose of beholder
in SFGate by Keay Davidson, March 29, 2001 accessed Sept. 30, 2010 The first conference also became the subject of a documentary video. Since 2002, the ASA has instituted a keynote speaker, who gives an hour long lecture linking synesthesia with other domains of research. In 2011, the University of California, San Diego became the first location to host the ASA annual meeting twice (2002, 2011).
See also
* History of synesthesia research
Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which two or more bodily senses are coupled. For example, in a form of synesthesia known as grapheme-color synesthesia, letters or numbers may be perceived as inherently colored. Historically, the most c ...
* UK Synaesthesia Association
The UK Synaesthesia Association was originally conceived by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen
Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University o ...
Notes
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External links
Official web site
Synesthesia
Psychology organizations based in the United States