Having just read "The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts" by the late Joe Fisher, relating his trip down the rabbit hole of "spirit guides", mediums, and the channeling movement, an impression has stuck with me that channeling and psychic perception seems to make use of the brain in ways that may be analagous or the same as synesthesia. The following article mentions an interesting study:
http://www.referencepointtherapy.com/blog/2012/05/science-proves-psychic/
excerpt:
I get the personal impression from Jordan Peterson's lectures that there is almost certainly a correlation between "creativity" (high levels of "big five" trait Openness) and psychic phenomena, and the following study indicates that grapheme-color synesthetes tend to be higher in trait Openness (as well as Neuroticism, interestingly).
Overall, those who are biologically wired to have more far-reaching interconnections within the brain seem to be more likely to be creative, have synesthesia, and/or experience psychic phenomena.
http://www.referencepointtherapy.com/blog/2012/05/science-proves-psychic/
excerpt:
People with synesthesia see the world in a different way. Often they go insane. But with time and treatment they learn to use their gift to see the world differently. Many of the world’s greatest artists have been synesthetes. These includes painters David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky, musicians like Billy Joel, and great inventors such as Nikola Tesla.
According to the University of Granada study, published in the prestigious journal Consciousness and Cognition, healers can in fact see auras because of their emotional synesthesia. Here is a summary of their findings about one of the famous healers in the study:
Many people attribute “paranormal powers” to El Santón, such as his ability to see the aura of people “but, in fact, it is a clear case of synesthesia”, the researchers explain.
El Santón presents face-color synesthesia (the brain region responsible for face recognition is associated with the color-processing region); touch-mirror synesthesia (when the synesthete observes a person who is being touched or is experiencing pain, s/he experiences the same); high empathy (the ability to feel what other person is feeling), and schizotypy (certain personality traits in healthy people involving slight paranoia and delusions).
“These capacities give synesthetes the ability to make people feel understood, and provide them with special emotion and pain reading skills”, the researchers explain.
I get the personal impression from Jordan Peterson's lectures that there is almost certainly a correlation between "creativity" (high levels of "big five" trait Openness) and psychic phenomena, and the following study indicates that grapheme-color synesthetes tend to be higher in trait Openness (as well as Neuroticism, interestingly).
Overall, those who are biologically wired to have more far-reaching interconnections within the brain seem to be more likely to be creative, have synesthesia, and/or experience psychic phenomena.