Descripción del proyecto
Una herramienta de diagnóstico para la sinestesia infantil
El rasgo genético de la sinestesia es la manifestación de sensaciones fantasma, cuando un sentido es percibido de manera simultánea por uno o más sentidos adicionales. La sinestesia vincula las letras, las formas, los números o los sonidos con una percepción sensorial como el olor, el color o el sabor. Desafortunadamente, la sinestesia se produce de manera concomitante con otras afecciones de la salud como el trastorno de ansiedad y el autismo, y podría repercutir en el proceso educativo. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos SYN-TOOLKIT busca desarrollar un paquete basado en aplicaciones para diagnosticar y apoyar las dos formas más prevalentes de sinestesia infantil. SYN-TOOLKIT se centrará en la prueba de concepto estableciendo la viabilidad técnica, la usabilidad y la comercialización a partir del paquete de prueba desarrollado. El proyecto subsanará la actual falta de recursos de diagnóstico para los niños con sinestesia.
Objetivo
People with the genetic trait of synaesthesia experience phantom colours, sounds, tastes, and other unusual sensations. These are triggered by everyday activities like reading or listening to music. Importantly, synaesthesia is comorbid with health conditions including anxiety disorder and autism, and has a known impact on education. Although there are widely available tests for diagnosing synaesthesia in adults, there are none for children - despite its relatively wide impact (307 million synaesthetes worldwide). My ERC Consolidator grant MULTISENSE has generated such a test, to share with fellow researchers. However, during the course of MULTISENSE we have been approached by multiple professionals beyond the research sector (e.g. clinicians), each in need of a diagnostic for the child synaesthetes they are increasingly encountering. These professionals require a test package comprising Diagnostic tool, Testing manual, Automatic Scoring, etc. which could be easily implemented by non-scientists. Not only is this testing package non-existent in any country worldwide, but it is requested from us on a regular basis. Hence, SYN-TOOLKIT will provide an app-based package to diagnose and support two of the most prevalent forms of childhood synaesthesia. We will trial our package on target audiences including partners in Local Education Authorities (with government oversight of schools) and the National Health Service. We will take our test-package to proof of concept by establishing technical feasibility, usability, and commercialisation. We have explored our market with an award that engaged the Sussex Innovation Centre, experts in market exploration. In summary, there is a pressing need to produce a commercialised test kit for childhood synaesthesia, for use by clinicians, education professionals and parents. This would address the striking lack of provision for children with synaesthesia, bringing benefits to synaesthetes, parents, educators, and clinical practice.
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ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitución de acogida
BN1 9RH Brighton
Reino Unido