Synesthesia
Posted by: von M / June 26th, 2009 / Category: Art, Lifestyle, Music
I’ve been busy/lazy and have been meaning to write a bit more than just posting interesting videos. Here’s the first of what I hope to be a more recurring series of neuroscience oddities.
Synesthesia is a condition where one sensory modality causes unusual experiences in another, unstimulated modality. Grapheme-color synesthesia occurs when viewing letters or numbers elicits an experience of colors. Other examples include tasting shapes and seeing colors when listening to music. I watched The Soloist and was reminded of this unusual ‘condition’ when Jamie Foxx’s character goes into a trance of sorts and the scene transitions to a representation of what music synesthesia may feel like. It may be more common than expected, as I know a couple people diagnosed with this and I tend to see a few numbers represented by specific colors only. Interesting that the simple crossover of one brain area to an adjacent one can result in such wild sensations. Directing duo Terri Timely have a cool interpretation of what synesthetes may experience.
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