Synesthesia

    Synethesia, meaning “joined perception,” is a neurologically-based phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sense (e.g. taste, sight, sound, touch, smell) causes the automatic and involuntary stimulation of another. The result of this is the vivid ability to taste shapes, see music, etc. People with this condition are referred to as synethetes.

    The most common form of synesthesia is the combination of color perception and letter/numbers. For example, a synethete might see the word “fun” as light blue or the number 7 as dark red. Other synesthetes hear sounds in response to smell, smells in response to touch, or sensation in response to sight. All combinations of the senses are possible.

    Like anything else, synesthetic perceptions differ from person to person. In other words, one synesthete may smell flowers when he or she sees a dog, while another may smell vomit at the sight of a dog.

    Estimates on the number of people that have this condition varies significantly; while one study found that 1 in 200 people have it, another found that 1 in 100,000 have this disorder. However, some general characteristics of synesthetes have been agreed upon: Women in the U.S. are three times more likely than men to get this disorder; synesthetes are of normal intelligence level; they are more likely to be left-handed; and the trait of synesthesia is thought to be on the X-chromosome and runs in families.

    Some scientists and research reveals that synesthesia is the result of a cross-wiring in the brain. Their hypothesis is that, in the brains of synesthetes, neurons and synapses that are supposed to be connected to one sensory system are actually connected to another sensory system. It is unclear the exact meaning for this, but some researchers believe that, at birth, everyone has this cross-connection. In a normal circumstance, the connections would work themselves out as a person ages; with a synesthete, these crossed connections are retained.