It is a neurological disorder that causes the stimulation of one sense to cause reactions in another, creating a sensory mix between vision, smell, hearing, taste and touch. For example, to a synaesthete, the number 5 might be always green, Monday taste sweet, and a guitar solo produce images of phosphorescent bubbles.
Most people receive external stimuli and process them in parallel in the brain: an object seen follows a specific route to the visual cortex; sounds make their own way to the auditory cortex; and so on. However, in the brain of synesthetes, these tracks intersect, generating the greatest jumble in information processing.
“This is an involuntary brain process”, says neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. 61 types of synesthesia have already been catalogued, but the causes are still unknown. It is only known that genetics have an influence. “Synesthesia is common in some families and is related to at least three chromosomes”, says British psychologist Julia Simner, from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland.
This confusion between the senses can also happen for other reasons, such as hallucinations due to drug use. But in those cases, the jumble is random, whereas for a synesthete, a purple name will always be purple.
examples of synesthesia
1. Smell emotions
The crossing between the olfactory receptors of the central nervous system and the limbic system, which regulates emotions, makes, for example, that the smell of roses makes the synesthete irritable or vice versa, that an irritated person smells roses.
2. Flavors with temperature
It’s not hot or cold food, but two different sensations mixing in the central nervous system. And then the taste of wine can cause the same feeling of cold as a wind, for example.
3. Noisy smells
Because of the confusion between the auditory cortex and the olfactory receptors, a scent can literally make a person hear things. Even worse in the case of bad smells: in addition to having to put up with the stench, the person hears a noise together…
4. Colorful Sounds
Rather than going straight to the auditory cortex, noises bypass the visual cortex. Result: a musical note looks like a colored ball.
5. Names with personality
Another recurring type. The combination of letters or sounds that form a given name interferes with the limbic system. The person starts to think that every José is reliable, or that Fridays are depressing.
6. Numbers and letters with color
It is one of the most common types of synesthesia. It rolls inside the visual cortex: instead of processing just the written sign with the color it was printed with, the brain relates it to other specific colors.
famous synesthetes
1. Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
The American physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1965, claimed to see colored letters and numbers. While teaching, he would see dark brown X’s floating in the air.
2. Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Everything indicates that the Russian painter mixed four senses: vision, hearing, smell and touch. He even sang the shades of colors he intended to use in the palette.
3. Eddie van Halen (1955-)
The American guitarist, founder of the band Van Halen, used the gift of seeing colored musical notes to create the «brown note», used on the band’s records.
4. Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)
As a child, the Russian author complained that the colors in his wooden alphabet were wrong. He created several synesthete characters
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