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Sounds – Live and in Color!
Beyond Science
- Lab Life
- Off the Bench
- Inspiring Science
For synesthetes, numbers appear in different colors, or music is experienced as a visual spectacle. What is this phenomenon of the senses all about?
What sounds may Wassily Kandinsky have heard resonating in his ears as he painted his colorful piece “Impression III (Concert)” after attending a concert featuring works by Arnold Schönberg? The Russian painter is said to have felt synesthesia which, according to estimates, is experienced by four out of every hundred people for whom one sensation is automatically linked with another. Letters, for example, may assume different colors, or music combines with colors, shapes or structures.
Bittersweet seconds
Elisabeth Sulser could write a book on the subject. When the Swiss recorder player hears music, she sees the sounds in a range of colors; her mind projects the auditory sensation onto an “inner screen”. The note C glows in red, D is yellow and G is blue. In this way, a kaleidoscope-like painting comes into existence, one that changes continually with the tempo of the music. While “colorful hearing” counts among the classic examples of synesthetic perceptions, Sulser further associates tone intervals with taste – a hitherto unknown connection. If the musician hears two distant tones within an octave, she will taste it on her tongue. A major second tastes bitter, whereas a fifth tastes like a glass of water.
“Simultaneous sensation” may best describe the puzzling phenomenon of synesthesia in which a certain stimulus triggers a subsequent perception. Approximately 80 variants are currently known to science. As shown in the “synesthesia list” compiled by American anthropologist and synesthete Sean Day, all possible connections between the senses are possible – from sequence-space synesthesia (units of time such as the days of the week or months are aligned before the inner eye), all the way to emotional synesthesia, during which emotional states such as sadness or joy are experienced as colors or in the form of shapes.
Spontaneous one-way streets
Despite all their differences, synesthetic perceptions have a few things in common, including the fact that they typically occur in one direction only. If, for example, a grapheme-color synesthete connects the letter B with the color perception red, the color red will not trigger a reverse connection with the letter B. In addition, synesthetic perceptions cannot be induced artificially – they are always spontaneous. These general rules separate synesthesia from other phenomena such as hallucinations or drug intoxication.
Where does this fascinating variant of cognition, which enables such extraordinary perceptions, originate? According to the German Synesthesia Association, synesthetic perceptions are based on additional neuronal connections between two or more regions of the brain that process the sensory stimuli of vision, hearing, smell, taste or touch. The brains of synesthetes further contain connections between different neuronal structures and regions that are responsible for emotions, memory, intelligence and other cognitive phenomena. Those affected are not alone when it comes to their extraordinary abilities, as synesthesia often appears as a phenomenon running in families. At the end of the day, states the Association, synesthesia is a physiological variant of human consciousness that mostly brings advantages, and only rarely disadvantages.
Innate mnemonic
Taking a look at the list of synesthete artists, musicians and authors, it appears that advantages prevail. From superstar Lady Gaga, Billy Joel and comedian Chris Martin, all the way to poets like William Shakespeare or Arthur Rimbaud: they are united by a special talent and creativity that renders their life’s work immortal. Many synesthetes report that they find it easy to remember things – as though a mnemonic, something that others need to construct painstakingly, was already present in their brains. In addition, superior imagination, perception of detail and higher sensitivity and empathy are also attributed to synesthetes. At the same time, all this makes those affected more prone to sensory overload and anxiety reactions.
Researchers are certain: while it is not possible to learn synesthesia, it is very possible to learn from it. According to researchers in the field of education, it is worth employing more than one sense during the process of learning in order to better retain knowledge. Science hopes to gain new insights from the study of synesthesia, including in the area of human sensory experience, as well as information processing in the brain. On the other hand, perhaps it is sufficient to realize that diversity is part of life. “Synesthesia”, says Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the renowned Autism Research Centre of the University of Cambridge, and himself a synesthete, “is an unequivocal example of neurodiversity which we should respect and value.”
Bittersweet seconds
Elisabeth Sulser could write a book on the subject. When the Swiss recorder player hears music, she sees the sounds in a range of colors; her mind projects the auditory sensation onto an “inner screen”. The note C glows in red, D is yellow and G is blue. In this way, a kaleidoscope-like painting comes into existence, one that changes continually with the tempo of the music. While “colorful hearing” counts among the classic examples of synesthetic perceptions, Sulser further associates tone intervals with taste – a hitherto unknown connection. If the musician hears two distant tones within an octave, she will taste it on her tongue. A major second tastes bitter, whereas a fifth tastes like a glass of water.
“Simultaneous sensation” may best describe the puzzling phenomenon of synesthesia in which a certain stimulus triggers a subsequent perception. Approximately 80 variants are currently known to science. As shown in the “synesthesia list” compiled by American anthropologist and synesthete Sean Day, all possible connections between the senses are possible – from sequence-space synesthesia (units of time such as the days of the week or months are aligned before the inner eye), all the way to emotional synesthesia, during which emotional states such as sadness or joy are experienced as colors or in the form of shapes.
Spontaneous one-way streets
Despite all their differences, synesthetic perceptions have a few things in common, including the fact that they typically occur in one direction only. If, for example, a grapheme-color synesthete connects the letter B with the color perception red, the color red will not trigger a reverse connection with the letter B. In addition, synesthetic perceptions cannot be induced artificially – they are always spontaneous. These general rules separate synesthesia from other phenomena such as hallucinations or drug intoxication.
Where does this fascinating variant of cognition, which enables such extraordinary perceptions, originate? According to the German Synesthesia Association, synesthetic perceptions are based on additional neuronal connections between two or more regions of the brain that process the sensory stimuli of vision, hearing, smell, taste or touch. The brains of synesthetes further contain connections between different neuronal structures and regions that are responsible for emotions, memory, intelligence and other cognitive phenomena. Those affected are not alone when it comes to their extraordinary abilities, as synesthesia often appears as a phenomenon running in families. At the end of the day, states the Association, synesthesia is a physiological variant of human consciousness that mostly brings advantages, and only rarely disadvantages.
Innate mnemonic
Taking a look at the list of synesthete artists, musicians and authors, it appears that advantages prevail. From superstar Lady Gaga, Billy Joel and comedian Chris Martin, all the way to poets like William Shakespeare or Arthur Rimbaud: they are united by a special talent and creativity that renders their life’s work immortal. Many synesthetes report that they find it easy to remember things – as though a mnemonic, something that others need to construct painstakingly, was already present in their brains. In addition, superior imagination, perception of detail and higher sensitivity and empathy are also attributed to synesthetes. At the same time, all this makes those affected more prone to sensory overload and anxiety reactions.
Researchers are certain: while it is not possible to learn synesthesia, it is very possible to learn from it. According to researchers in the field of education, it is worth employing more than one sense during the process of learning in order to better retain knowledge. Science hopes to gain new insights from the study of synesthesia, including in the area of human sensory experience, as well as information processing in the brain. On the other hand, perhaps it is sufficient to realize that diversity is part of life. “Synesthesia”, says Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the renowned Autism Research Centre of the University of Cambridge, and himself a synesthete, “is an unequivocal example of neurodiversity which we should respect and value.”
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