Synesthesia
What is it?
- Synesthesia is a neurological condition where senses intermingle. It is when one sense for example, hearing, is perceived as something else in another sense for example taste. It can occur with all senses, however the most common type is colour-letter synesthesia.
- The word synesthesia comes from the Greek words syn (together) and aisthesis (perception) therefore it means joined perception.
- It is most common in women and left handed people. It is also common that it is inherited from another member of your family.
- Synesthetes do not think about the perception, it just happens. If you have a form of taste synesthesia they tend to be childhood flavours, like ice cream, not adult flavours, like olives or coffee.
Case study
A man called James Wannerton is an example of synesthesia. James Wannerton has a type of synesthesia, which means he can taste sounds. It doesn’t affect every word or word sound, although he thinks it could if he allowed it.
He realized he had synesthesia when he was a boy and was travelling to school. He found that having synesthesia helped him remember things. For example, in history Anne Boleyn tasted of pear drops. He connected most British monarchs with a specific taste making it easier for him to remember facts and events.
Now that he is older he finds that having synesthesia helps him to remember his way to work, because all of the train stops have a different taste.
Jamie Ward has further studied James’ case using brain-scanning techniques. He said, ”when we’ve asked him to think about words that have good and less palatable tastes to him, we see many parts of the brain light up, including areas associated with taste, emotional processing and mental imagery.”
Currently there is no cure for synesthesia and some of those who experience it say even if there was , they wouldn’t want to change it.
Here is a picture of James Wannerton
This is James’ version of the tube map and how the tube stops taste, when he hears them read out.
By Rosanna Wrigglesworth
