Recent research, however, has documented the reality of synesthesia and is beginning to make headway into understanding what might cause such unusual perceptions.

But synesthetes also report making computational errors because 6 and 8 have the same color and claim to prejudge couples they meet because the colors of their first names clash so hideously.ДЇor too long, synesthetes were dismissed as having overactive imaginations, confusing memories for perceptions or taking metaphorical speech far too literally. Synesthetes report having unusually good memory for things such as phone numbers, security codes and polysyllabic anatomical terminology because digits, letters and syllables take on such a unique panoply of colors. For example, is both blue (real color) and light green (synesthetic color). Even more perplexing is that synesthetes typically report seeing both the color the character is printed in as well as their synesthetic color. Such synesthetic colors are not elicited by meaning, because 2 may be orange but two is blue and 7 may be red but seven is green. Different synesthetes may see 3 in yellow, pink or red. One rather striking observation is that such synesthetes all seem to experience very different colors for the same graphemic cues. Of the various manifestations of synesthesia, the most common involves seeing monochromatic letters, digits and words in unique colorsthis is called grapheme-color synesthesia. The estimated occurrence of synesthesia ranges from rarer than one in 20,000 to as prevalent as one in 200. What makes synesthesia different from drug-induced hallucinations is that synesthetic sensations are highly consistent: for particular synesthetes, the note F is always a reddish shade of rust, a 3 is always pink or truck is always blue. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes. Synesthesia is an anomalous blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one modality simultaneously produces sensation in a different modality. When you eat chicken, does it feel pointy or round? Is a week shaped like a tipped-over D with the days arranged counterclockwise? Does the note B taste like horseradish? Do you get confused about appointments because Tuesday and Thursday have the same color? Do you go to the wrong train station in New York City because Grand Central has the same color as the 42nd Street address of Penn Station? When you read a newspaper or listen to someone speaking do you see a rainbow of colors? If so, you might have synesthesia. Blake and Ren Marois of the psychology department and the Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University study synesthesia.

Synthesia disorder