Synesthesia: Experiencing the World "Outside the Box"

The boundaries of our world are defined by our five senses. There is only so much we can see, hear, smell or feel. Most of the universe and what is happening in it is hidden from us. Some human beings, though, are blessed with a little extra perception and can experience the world in a different, more exciting way.

For example, when pianist Laura Rosser performs, she hears more than sounds. She hears colors -- each note has its own associated hue. Rosser has a rare neurological condition called synesthesia. Stimulation of one sense produces the sensation of another.

Each synesthete has a unique system of associations. That means the periwinkle that Rosser associates with D-flat might be purple for another synesthete. Other synesthetes associate colors with letters and numbers. Rosser has this type of synesthesia as well.

But these associations are not simply arbitrary. According to studies conducted by Benny Shanon at Hebrew University, when synesthetes 'see' colors associated with alphabets, musical notes, or other linear models, there is a similar pattern in the colors as well. This may point to an underlying pattern built in to the creation that allows those of us 'wired' differently to perceive this pattern in many modalities: sound, color, touch, but in unusual ways - numbers or letters as colors or notes.

This is an example of the theory behind Music from God - where each note of the "music" represents a single Hebrew letter in the sequence of a Biblical passage. Literally the text is 'played' or experienced as music rather than words.

Randolph Blake, a researcher at Vanderbilt University, says the brains of synesthetes appear to be wired in a way that allows signals from one sense to trigger brain circuits usually associated with another sense. But it's unclear how this alternate wiring takes place.

Perhaps at one time we were all 'wired' to perceive the world in a richer way, or equally as possible is that we are able to do so but the pathways have been 'lost' because they were unnecessary to modern living.

The next time a child tells you he "sees" something differently from what you are experiencing, it might be worth the while to listen and learn before his 'extra-sense' is discredited by our over-addiction to rational thinking.

To read more:

 MIT: synesthesia

Three studies on Synesthesia from Hebrew University (pdf)

Synesthesia in Art and Science (MIT)

International Synesthesia Association (UK)