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Autism May Be Linked to Mirror-Touch Synesthesia, the Ability to Physically Feel What Others Feel

By Andréas RB Deolinda

Although synesthesia is not as rare as it was once believed, synesthetes (people who experience synesthesia) typically don’t realize their unique abilities are not common to everyone. Another fun fact: it’s also believed synesthesia could be linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Read on blog.theautismsite.greatergood.com

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‘We Can Literally Feel Our Patients’ Pain’: From a Neuroscientist to a Massage Therapist, We Speak to Some of the Rare Few Healthcare Professionals with ‘Mirror-Touch Synesthesia’

Mirror-touch synesthesia is a rare neurological trait that makes people highly empathic, allowing them to feel what others do by looking at or touching them.

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Since she was young, Luna Jones has had the “superhuman” ability to feel everything you (and everyone else) feels. Is it a burden or a gift?

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Matteo di Maio
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Some People with Synaesthesia Feel Other People’s Sensations of Touch – Painful and Pleasurable

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Michael Banissy
2021
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Help Arrives for Mirror-Touch Synesthetes

Pioneering therapist Dr. Judith Orloff counsels the highly empathic.

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Maureen Seaberg
2015
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What Happens When Our Brain Lets Us Taste Words?

Our five senses evolved to help us know the world. But sometimes, a tripped wire or two in the brain lets us perceive in completely bizarre ways.

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Guy Leschziner
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We Are All Synesthetes

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Bence Nanay
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Is Synesthesia a Brain Disorder?

In a provocative review paper, French neuroscientists Jean-Michel Hupé and Michel Dojat question the assumption that synesthesia is a neurological disorder.

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Neuroskeptic
2015
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The Many Types of Synesthesia Explained

Research and understanding of synesthesia are currently quite fluid, with new findings being regularly reported. The scientific community has, however, established somewhat consistent descriptions of the most common ways in which the various types of synesthesia manifested.

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Nicola Kirkpatrick
2021
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