Sinesstesia
Synesthesia: Colors, Taste and Sounds all Together.
Colors, Taste and Sounds all together
What is synesthesia? Well the word synesthesia is the contrary as anesthesia (no sensation) it is refers as e phenomenon of the “junction of senses” (Cytowic, 1989). This means that some people experience involuntary blended senses. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes, for example: seeing colors while listening to a song or appreciate flavors when someone talks. The interactions can be quite varied and would be impossible to enumerate or classify synesthesia. This is a difficult issue for study, since it must start from subjective sensations experienced by each individual personally, as seen in various cases that the sensations produced in synesthetic subjects are uniform in time and that a stimulus can induce the same feeling even when present at different times (Cytowic, 1989). One thing they also seem to agree most synesthetes is that this is illogical and instantaneous, usually occurs uncontrollably and without thinking, it is just a feeling (Cytowic, 1989). For scientists, synesthesia presents an intriguing problem. Studies have confirmed that the phenomenon is biological, automatic and apparently unlearned, distinct from both hallucination and metaphor. The condition runs in families and is more common among women than men, researchers now know. But until recently, researchers could only speculate about the causes of synesthesia (Wagner, 1981). It is impossible to infiltrate the mind of the synesthete to understand or share their unique insights. Carol Steen, a New Yorker artist who sees the letters, numbers, sounds and pains usually evoke a variety of colors, says: "For me it 's as if you saw the black and white world. I see it in color” (American Synesthesia Association). According to a study some of the features common in people or situations synesthetic are:
• It is hereditary, that is, exists in
Colors, Taste and Sounds all together
What is synesthesia? Well the word synesthesia is the contrary as anesthesia (no sensation) it is refers as e phenomenon of the “junction of senses” (Cytowic, 1989). This means that some people experience involuntary blended senses. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes, for example: seeing colors while listening to a song or appreciate flavors when someone talks. The interactions can be quite varied and would be impossible to enumerate or classify synesthesia. This is a difficult issue for study, since it must start from subjective sensations experienced by each individual personally, as seen in various cases that the sensations produced in synesthetic subjects are uniform in time and that a stimulus can induce the same feeling even when present at different times (Cytowic, 1989). One thing they also seem to agree most synesthetes is that this is illogical and instantaneous, usually occurs uncontrollably and without thinking, it is just a feeling (Cytowic, 1989). For scientists, synesthesia presents an intriguing problem. Studies have confirmed that the phenomenon is biological, automatic and apparently unlearned, distinct from both hallucination and metaphor. The condition runs in families and is more common among women than men, researchers now know. But until recently, researchers could only speculate about the causes of synesthesia (Wagner, 1981). It is impossible to infiltrate the mind of the synesthete to understand or share their unique insights. Carol Steen, a New Yorker artist who sees the letters, numbers, sounds and pains usually evoke a variety of colors, says: "For me it 's as if you saw the black and white world. I see it in color” (American Synesthesia Association). According to a study some of the features common in people or situations synesthetic are:
• It is hereditary, that is, exists in
References: American Synesthesia Association. 2006. http://www.synesthesia.info/news.html. Baron-Cohen, S., Burt, L., Laittan-Smith, F., Harrison, J.E., & Bolton, P. (1996). Synesthesia: Prevalence and familiarity. Perception, 25, 1073–1080. Cytowic, R.E. (1989). Synesthesia: A union of the senses. Berlin: Springer. Dann, K.T. (1998). Bright colors falsely seen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Hubbard, Edward M. and Ramachandran, V.S. 2005. Neurocognitive Mechanism of Synesthesia. Center of Brain and Cognition. University of California. Vol. 48, 509–520. Wagner, S., Winner, E., Cicchetti, D., & Gardner, H. (1981). “Metaphorical” mapping in human infants. Child Development, 52, 728–731.