Synesthesia is a sensory phenomenon where certain domain-specific stimuli trigger additional sensations of e.g. color or texture. The condition occurs in about 4% of the general population, but is overrepresented in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), where it might also be associated with the presence of prodigious talents. Here we describe the case of a young transsexual man with Asperger Syndrome, synesthesia and a prodigious talent for foreign language acquisition. In our case, not only letters, numbers, spoken words, music, noises, weekdays and months lead to highly consistent, vivid color sensations but also his own and others’ emotions, geometric shapes, any mathematical symbol, and letters from an unfamiliar alphabet (Hebrew). These color associations seem to aid categorization, differentiation and storage of information and might thereby contribute to the young man’s language acquisition ability. We investigated the young man’s structural brain connectivity in comparison to adults with or without ASD, applying global fiber tracking to diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data. The case presented with increased connectivity, especially between regions involved in visual and emotion processing, memory, and higher order associative binding regions. An electroencephalography experiment investigating synesthetic color and shape sensations while listening to music showed a negligible occipital alpha suppression, indicating that these internally generated synesthetic sensations derive from a different brain mechanism than when processing external visual information. Taken together, this case study endorses the notion of a link between synesthesia, prodigious talent and autism, adding to the currently still sparse literature in this field. It provides new insights into the possible manifestations of synesthesia in individuals with ASD and its potential contribution to prodigious talents in people with an otherwise unexceptional cognitive profile. Additionally, this case impressively illustrates how synesthesia can be a key element not only of sensory perception but also social and emotional processing and contributes to existing evidence of increased brain connectivity in association with synesthesia.

中文翻译：

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一例同时发生的感觉，自闭症，杰出的才能和强大的大脑结构连接性。

联觉是一种感觉现象，其中某些特定领域的刺激会触发其他感觉，例如颜色或纹理。这种情况约占总人口的4％，但在自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的个体中表现过度，那里也可能与杰出人才有关。在这里，我们描述了一个年轻的变性人，患有阿斯伯格综合症，通感和外语习得天才的案例。在我们的案例中，不仅字母，数字，口语单词，音乐，噪音，工作日和月份导致高度一致，生动的色彩感觉，而且还导致他本人和其他人的情感，几何形状，任何数学符号以及陌生字母的字母（希伯来语）。这些颜色关联似乎有助于分类，信息的差异化和存储，从而可能有助于年轻人的语言习得能力。我们研究了与有或没有ASD的成年人相比，年轻人的大脑结构连通性，并将全球纤维追踪应用于扩散加权磁共振成像（MRI）数据。该案例呈现出增强的连通性，尤其是在涉及视觉和情感处理，记忆和更高级别的关联性绑定区域的区域之间。脑电图实验在听音乐时调查感觉颜色和形状的感觉，显示枕头α抑制作用微不足道，表明这些内部产生的感觉感觉与处理外部视觉信息时的大脑机制不同。在一起 该案例研究认可了联觉，超凡才能和自闭症之间的联系的概念，这增加了该领域目前仍然稀疏的文献。它为ASD患者可能出现的联觉提供了新的见解，以及它对具有其他非凡认知特征的人的杰出才能的潜在贡献。此外，该案例令人印象深刻地表明，联觉不仅可以成为感官知觉的关键要素，而且可以成为社交和情感加工的关键要素，并且有助于与联觉相关的现有大脑连接增强的证据。它为ASD患者可能出现的联觉提供了新的见解，以及它对具有其他非凡认知特征的人的杰出才能的潜在贡献。此外，该案例令人印象深刻地表明，联觉不仅可以成为感官知觉的关键要素，而且可以成为社交和情感加工的关键要素，并且有助于与联觉相关的现有大脑连接增强的证据。它为ASD患者可能出现的联觉提供了新的见解，以及它对具有其他非凡认知特征的人的杰出才能的潜在贡献。此外，该案例令人印象深刻地表明，联觉不仅可以成为感官知觉的关键要素，而且可以成为社交和情感加工的关键要素，并且有助于与联觉相关的现有大脑连接增强的证据。