Here you will find some information about the unique sensory experience synesthesia. In the sections below you can learn what synesthesia is, how to pronounce it, and a bit about some of my research on how synesthesia works. Feel free to contact me for more information about synesthesia or to volunteer to participate in research. (Contact information appears below.) Note that I’m using the American spelling. The UK spelling adds an extra “a”: synaesthesia
Synesthesia questions and answers
What is synesthesia?
Synesthesia is a unique way of perceiving the world. A person who experiences synesthesia will perceive some things as having an “extra sensation.” That is, they have the same experience everyone else has… plus something extra. One common form of synesthesia is colored letters and numbers. A synesthete who experiences this form will, upon reading or hearing a letter of the alphabet or number, get the usual visual or auditory sensation, but they’ll also get a sensation of color. Each letter or number has its own color, and the colors tend to be different from one synesthete to the next. The color could be an actual patch of color that appears somewhere in visual space, or it could “appear” in the mind (in the imagination or “mind’s eye”). There are many other forms of synesthesia, but all have in common some sort of “extra” sensation.
How do you pronounce “synesthesia”?
Below are links to sound files of me pronouncing variations of the word synesthesia.
synesthesia: a sensory ability in which an experience in one domain automatically elicits an experience in another domain
synesthete: a person who regularly experiences synesthesia
synesthesiology: the study of synesthesia
Why is synesthesia interesting?
One of the unique things about the conscious mind is that we each have access to exactly one consciousness: our own. We can learn the contents of another person’s mind only by communicating with them and comparing their descriptions with our own experiences. Yet this communication relies on the assumption that we all perceive the world in a similar way. I assume that an object you describe as being “red” or “round” would also appear red or round to me.
However, we do not all perceive the world the same way. Some differences are a result of some sensory deficit, or problem. For example, to a person with a color vision deficiency, a red light might look the same as a green light. People who are blind or deaf must rely on their intact senses. Synesthesia, on the other hand, is an experience of enhanced perception. They’re not missing anything–they get something extra! This, too, is part of the rich palette of human perception. By learning how others perceive the world, we gain an appreciation for human diversity and improve our ability to understand and relate to the people around us.
Learning about the senses
We as scientists are interested in how the senses work together to inform us of the world around us. Synesthesia is a special case of this where the senses work together in an unusual way. It is very possible, however, that people with synesthesia are doing the same things we all do, just in a unique way. For example, we all have an association between touch and taste: have you ever described a cheese as “sharp”? It doesn’t feel sharp on the tongue, this is just a way of using a word from one sense (touch) to describe an experience in another (taste). Perhaps this sort of “metaphorical” multisensory association relies on cognitive and perceptual processes that are not all that different from synesthesia. By learning more about synesthesia, we gain a body of knowledge that can inform our understanding of how the senses work together in everyone.
Individual differences & diversity
Scientifically, synesthesia can be described as an unusual example of the senses working together, or “multisensory processing”. From a broader perspective, the study of synesthesia can also be thought of as an investigation into and celebration of diversity the many unique ways in which people experience and perceive their environments. Those researching synesthesia aim to keep an open mind about both the qualities that synesthetes generally share, and the many variations in their perceptions. For example, a common form of synesthesia is to experience letters as having particular colors, but the colors of the letters differ from synesthete to synesthete. Synesthetes consistently report that the colors of the letters are an inherent, inseparable part of the letter itself. However, they acknowledge that others with the same kind of synesthesia will undoubtedly have some different letter-to-color associations. That is, synesthesia, a unique form of multisensory processing, varies from synesthete to synesthete in its expression, but not in the genuineness of the experience. By investigating this, we can be reminded again that although we may feel strongly about our own views of the world, we are also capable of embracing the diversity in others’ perceptions.
Research
I became interested in synesthesia while working with Dr. Peter Grossenbacher at the National Institutes of Health in the 1990s. We developed a structured interview and were able to interview many people with synesthesia about their experience. We thus learned a great deal about how the experience of synesthesia can vary from one person to the next.
There is much discussion in the scientific community regarding the brain processes that underlie synesthesia. That is, what is happening differently in the brain of a synesthete compared to a non-synesthete. Dr. Grossenbacher and I proposed that synesthetes are using the same brain networks present in everyone, just in a different way. Others have proposed that synesthetes’ brains have neural connections not present in non-synesthetes. There is much ongoing research–an answer to this question is surely on the way.
Terminology
Visitors to this page with medical training may already be familiar with the word “synesthesia”, but may be accustomed to using it to describe a wide array of medical problems. I would like to advocate for using the word synesthesia by itself to describe the sort of experiences listed in this web site. That is, automatic, consistent, cross-domain mappings present from at least early childhood. For other sorts of cross-domain associations, like photisms or visual hallucinations that result from blindness, we suggest using modifiers like “acquired synesthesia” or “adventitious synesthesia”.
How to contact Me
Anyone interested in learning more about synesthesia may contact Dr. Lovelace:
By phone: (304) 876-5315
By e-mail: clovelac@shepherd.edu
By regular mail: PO Box 5000, Shepherdstown, WV 25443