aisthesis, or "perception") is a condition in which otherwise normal people experience the blending of two or more senses.

For decades, the phenomenon was often written off as fakery or simply memories, but it has recently been shown to be real. Perhaps it occurs because of cross activation, in which two normally separate areas of the brain elicit activity in each other.

As scientists explore the mechanisms involved in synesthesia, they are also learning about how the brain in general processes sensory information and uses it to make abstract connections between seemingly unrelated inputs. " data-pin-do="buttonBookmark">

Overview/Synesthesia

• Synesthesia (from the Greek roots syn, meaning "together," and aisthesis, or "perception") is a condition in which otherwise normal people experience the blending of two or more senses.
• For decades, the phenomenon was often written off as fakery or simply memories, but it has recently been shown to be real. Perhaps it occurs because of cross activation, in which two normally separate areas of the brain elicit activity in each other.
• As scientists explore the mechanisms involved in synesthesia, they are also learning about how the brain in general processes sensory information and uses it to make abstract connections between seemingly unrelated inputs.

Image: DAVID EMMITE

When Matthew Blakeslee shapes hamburger patties with his hands, he experiences a vivid bitter taste in his mouth. Esmerelda Jones (a pseudonym) sees blue when she listens to the note C sharp played on the piano; other notes evoke different hues--so much so that the piano keys are actually color-coded, making it easier for her to remember and play musical scales. And when Jeff Coleman looks at printed black numbers, he sees them in color, each a different hue. Blakeslee, Jones and Coleman are among a handful of otherwise normal people who have synesthesia. They experience the ordinary world in extraordinary ways and seem to inhabit a mysterious no-man's-land between fantasy and reality. For them the senses--touch, taste, hearing, vision and smell--get mixed up instead of remaining separate.

Modern scientists have known about synesthesia since 1880, when Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, published a paper in Nature on the phenomenon. But most have brushed it aside as fakery, an artifact of drug use (LSD and mescaline can produce similar effects) or a mere curiosity. About four years ago, however, we and others began to uncover brain processes that could account for synesthesia. Along the way, we also found new clues to some of the most mysterious aspects of the human mind, such as the emergence of abstract thought, metaphor and perhaps even language.

2 Comments

1. 1. alliebaba40 11:11 AM 1/29/12

   I am a "synesthete", and I see colors in letters, days of the week, numbers, words, and names. Sadly, I don't have the piano notes thing like "Esmerelda Jones", as that would help since I play the piano. I guess I'm like Jeff Coleman. Does anyone know how many people have this condition, and is it abnormal or something? Why do I have it?

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2. 2. JoeBran 11:57 PM 3/20/12

   Alliebaba 40, around 1 in 23 people are synesthetes, it is not abnormal. Syenesthesia is highly heretitary, so that might be the reason you have it. And it is not abnormal, I two of my best friends have synesthesia and they are as normal as most other people I have met. I have heard that a lot of people call it a handicap, but most synesthetes think it is a "gift" and wouldn't want to lose it. I hope this helped

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