How would you feel if you heard a piece of music and the taste of chocolate simultaneously occurred in your mouth? Or, you instantly saw a color in response to a smell? The root of these dual sense experiences are typically caused by a perceptual condition called synesthesia.
After learning about synesthesia from a recent Nova program that aired on PBS television, I was compelled to dig a little deeper to try and understand this human phenomenon.
The medical community categorizes synesthesia as a “condition” and not a disorder. With an outside possibility of being a distraction, synesthesia doesn’t interfere with daily functions and when tested, synesthetes perform normally on standard neurological exams. It has been suggested however, that synesthesia is more prevalent in women where a possible predisposition may exist within a given family unit.
One of the most common forms of synesthesia (found in 1 in 90 individuals) is called grapheme or color synesthesia. Synesthetes will visually bond a specific color to an individual letter, number and musical note. As a result, words can appear in multicolored combinations depending on the color associated with each distinct letter, and synesthetes may not necessarily have the same color associations for their alphabet, etc.
Even though research was conducted in the late 19th early 20th centuries—until very recently, synesthesia remained a largely unexplored condition. Today researchers believe the cause is derived from an abnormal neural connection.
By taking a closer look at this phenomenon, doctors can begin to unravel and understand the causes of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), Autism and Schizophrenia which all involve neural connectivity issues as well. Through synesthesia research, a better understanding may lead to improved treatment for these disorders.
Within the world of visual and performing arts there are quite few notable authors, composers, musicians and artists who are synesthetes.
Inspired by Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, Russian born synesthete, Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866-1944) created art that reflected the simultaneous stimulation of sight and sound senses. Kandinsky explored the concept of abstract art through the use of deconstructed compositions made out of geometric forms. He also emphasized the heightened use of individual colors while freeing them from the confines of established shapes.
Paintings and works on paper by Kandinsky are currently on display at the Guggenheim Museum. This ongoing exhibit shows pieces created from 1922 to 1933, a period when Kandinsky served as a faculty member of the Bauhaus School in Weimer, Germany.
After learning about synesthesia from a recent Nova program that aired on PBS television, I was compelled to dig a little deeper to try and understand this human phenomenon.
Coming from the Greek roots syn, meaning ‘together,’ and aesthesis, meaning ‘sensation’, synesthetes have sensory experiences well beyond what an average person would. When one sense turns on; such as hearing music, an automatic engagement of a second distinct sense (seeing a color) blends together to create a convergence of sensory perception. Many types of “sensory pairings” can occur with synesthesia. It’s estimated that an upwards of sixty or so may exist. Some of these pairings however, are far more common than others and it is difficult to find statistics on how many people have synesthesia because it is often unreported.
The medical community categorizes synesthesia as a “condition” and not a disorder. With an outside possibility of being a distraction, synesthesia doesn’t interfere with daily functions and when tested, synesthetes perform normally on standard neurological exams. It has been suggested however, that synesthesia is more prevalent in women where a possible predisposition may exist within a given family unit.
One of the most common forms of synesthesia (found in 1 in 90 individuals) is called grapheme or color synesthesia. Synesthetes will visually bond a specific color to an individual letter, number and musical note. As a result, words can appear in multicolored combinations depending on the color associated with each distinct letter, and synesthetes may not necessarily have the same color associations for their alphabet, etc. Even though research was conducted in the late 19th early 20th centuries—until very recently, synesthesia remained a largely unexplored condition. Today researchers believe the cause is derived from an abnormal neural connection.
By taking a closer look at this phenomenon, doctors can begin to unravel and understand the causes of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), Autism and Schizophrenia which all involve neural connectivity issues as well. Through synesthesia research, a better understanding may lead to improved treatment for these disorders.
Within the world of visual and performing arts there are quite few notable authors, composers, musicians and artists who are synesthetes.
Inspired by Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, Russian born synesthete, Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866-1944) created art that reflected the simultaneous stimulation of sight and sound senses. Kandinsky explored the concept of abstract art through the use of deconstructed compositions made out of geometric forms. He also emphasized the heightened use of individual colors while freeing them from the confines of established shapes.
Paintings and works on paper by Kandinsky are currently on display at the Guggenheim Museum. This ongoing exhibit shows pieces created from 1922 to 1933, a period when Kandinsky served as a faculty member of the Bauhaus School in Weimer, Germany.We can only speculate how much of a role synesthesia may have played in the creation of masterworks like Kandinsky’s. I for one am envious of any synesthete. To have the natural ability to see the world with more depth and heightened 3-D acuity, would be an awesome gift to have.