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What Is Scientific Synesthesia?

For some, the world is not confined to the traditional functions of the five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing. Those who experience scientific synesthesia can mix up one or more senses with another. This experience used to be attributed to flights of fancy or hallucinations, but researchers today understand that there is a link between synesthesia and cognitive brain functioning.

Identification
- Synesthesia is defined as the anomalous blending of the senses. The result is experiencing one sense at the same time another is being stimulated. For example, a person with synesthesia may see a certain letter or digit, printed in black ink, as also having another color associated with it. Another person with synesthesia may experience a certain taste at the instant of hearing a certain tone. Still another may feel the presence of a shape against him when tasting a certain food.
Consistency
- The associations made between different senses vary from individual to individual. For example, the letter "S" may be viewed by one person as being orange, but silver by another. A certain sound may trigger a sweet taste for one or a sour taste for another. While there is no consistency among different individuals, a person with synesthesia will have consistent associations with their own perceptions; for example, "3" will always be pink, or "Truck" will always be blue.
Grapheme
- Not all versions of synesthesia are as prevalent as others. The most common is called grapheme. Grapheme is the term used to describe seeing a monochromatic letter, word or digit in a unique color. The color is not necessarily associated with the idea of the letter, digit or word, but rather the shape. For instance, while "3" may be viewed as being pink, "three" may come off as green. In general, the estimated occurrence of synesthesia is disputed as being anywhere from 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 200, according to Scientific American.
Research
- Synesthesia is currently being studied by psychologists, neuroscientists and others. It is a topic of interest, because it enables scientists to learn more about the ways in which the brain functions in order to create perceptive reality. By locating the different areas of the brain and how they respond and enable reactions to the senses, scientists can learn the way they are connected in viewing how a person with synesthesia experiences two senses simultaneously in order to experience a unique event.

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