Tasting Music, Smelling Colours
The World of Synesthesia
Imagine looking at this article and every letter appears in a different colour, or when you’re listening to music you see strange shapes floating in the air. What if you feel a shiver run down your spine when you take a bite of a rich chocolate brownie, or you hear Beethoven’s fifth symphony when hot water runs down your back in the shower? If you have had experiences like this then you may be one among every 2000 people in the world with a special sensory condition known as synesthesia.
Synesthetes (as people with synesthesia are known) experience a fusion of their senses when they see, touch, smell, taste or hear, so when any one of the senses is triggered, another one also responds. Plenty of sensory combinations exist, but in the most common form, letters and numbers appear in their own distinct colours. There are cases when synesthetes experience a combination of three or more senses, but this is extremely rare. The world has been witness to a great number of synesthetes, and among them are renowned physicist Richard Feynman(who amused himself by picking the combination locks of the supposedly secure filing cabinets containing America’s nuclear secrets) and Russian author Vladimir Nabokov.
How exactly is synesthesia caused?
Scientists are not yet sure, but it is being speculated that all humans are born with synesthesia but by the time we are four months old, the senses have been “wired up” to the correct parts of the brain. Perhaps people with synesthesia have some “cross-wiring” between areas of the brain that process different sensations, left over from this process. The only thing that is certain however, is that synesthetes do not actively think about their perceptions — they just happen.
What are the characteristics of synesthesia?
One, synesthesia is involuntary but elicited (as it happens in response to a stimuli) and is irrepressible. And secondly, the perception must be the same every single time. If the letter Y is olive yellow in colour then it must always be olive yellow in colour no matter where it is seen. Also, studies have shown that synesthetes are far more likely to be left handed than the general population and women are much more likely to have synesthesia than men. Also, rather than seeing something in the mind’s eye as a normal person would when asked to imagine a colour, a synesthete often actually sees a colour projected outside the body.
So, how does a person learn that they have this unique gift? Well, there isn’t a well defined method for identifying the trait — most synesthetes learn of their gift by accident and are surprised to know that all people do not experience the world the way that they do. One thing is certain however; they treasure their ability to take in the world with an additional sense.
After all, who wouldn’t want to experience the world in glorious, vibrant hues accompanied by the sound of an orchestra in crescendo?
For more information about synesthetia, refer to this Washington article and this Boston University article.
