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Synaesthesia (also spelled synesthesia) is the neurological mixing of the senses. A synaesthete may, for example, hear colors, see sounds, and taste tactile sensations. While this may happen in a person who has autism, it is by no means exclusive to autistics. Synaesthesia is a common effect of some hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD or mescaline.
Synaesthetes often experience correspondences between the shades of color, tone of sounds, and intensity of taste that provokes an alternate sensation. For instance, a synaesthete may see a more intense red as the pitch of a sound gets higher, or a smoother surface might make one taste a sweeter taste. These experiences are involuntary, are not metaphorical, are not merely associations, and are consistent throughout life, although some young synaesthetes seem to lose their ability by or during adulthood. Depressant drugs tend to increase the depth of the perception.
Synaesthesia can even occur when one of the senses no longer functions properly, e.g. a person who can see colours when words are spoken can still see the colours if he becomes blind in later life.
Two of the most common forms of synaesthesia are seeing sound or seeing letters and numbers in color.
Richard Cytowic wrote a pop-psych book about this condition entitled The Man Who Tasted Shapes.
Some researchers and theorists have suggested that synaesthesia may have played a part in early humans development of writing and written literacies.
Alternate spellings exist (synaesthesis), and many of those who experience the phenomenon identify as "synaesthetes".
Synaesthesia is a legitimate poetic device. In a familiar example, Andrew MarvellAndrew Marvell ( March 31, 1621 August 16, 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, and the son of an Anglican clergyman. As a metaphysical, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert, but also with Ben Jonson. After attending Cambridge, Marvell w characterized the fruitful and serene atmosphere of the garden as
Likewise, Nick Carraway , the narrator of F. Scott FitzgeraldCarl Van Vechten, 1937 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald ( September 24, 1896- December 21, 1940), was a Jazz Age novelist. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald is regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th Century. The self-styled spoke's The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby was first published in ( 1925) by the one of America's great short novelists, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story takes place in New York City and Long Island in the 1920s. It has often been described as the epitome of the " Jazz Age" in Ameri, writes of the "yellow cocktail music" that plays at Gatsby's parties.
Synaesthesia has influenced many artists in various fields, including poets Charles-Pierre Baudelaire and Arthur RimbaudArthur Rimbaud ( October 20, 1854 November 10, 1891) was a French poet. Arthur Rimbaud was born into the rural middle class of Charleville (now part of Charleville-Mezieres) in the Ardennes departement in northeastern France. As a boy Rimbaud was a restle (specifically his poem Voyelles), and an ersatz synaesthesia has sometimes been overused since as a shortcut to "modernity." Composer Alexander ScriabinAlexander Nikolayevich Scriabin sometimes transliterated as Skryabin ( January 6, 1872 April 27, 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. Scriabin was born in Moscow. He studied the piano from an early age, taking lessons with Nikolay Zverev who was teac, in his orchestraAn orchestra is a musical ensemble used most often in classical music. A small orchestra is called a chamber orchestra''. Full size orchestras may sometimes be called "symphony orchestras" or "philharmonic orchestras"; these prefixes do not indicate any dl work, Prometheus: The Poem of Fire (1910), included a part for a " clavier à lumièresThe clavier a lumieres was a musical instrument invented by Scriabin for use in his work Prometheus: Poem of Fire. However, it was never built in his lifetime. The instrument was supposed to be a keyboard, with notes corresponding to colors as given by Sc". This instrument was played like the piano, but produced colored light instead of sound. Synaesthesia as a drug effect played a role in the popular song " Lake Shore Drive" by Aliotta, Haynes, and Jeremiah :
Alexander Scriabin did not experience the physiological condition of synaesthesia. The color system he described and which he used in pieces such as Prometheus, unlike most systems and synaesthetic experience, line up with the circle of fifths, indicating that it was a thought out system that was also influenced by his theosophic readings, and based on Sir Isaac Newton's Optics. Many other artists have used fabricated synesthetic systems, such as the Italian futurists Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Wassily Kandinsky.
Amy Beach was a synesthete, seeing different colors for different keys, as well as possessing absolute pitch. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was reputed to be a synesthete. Olivier Messiaen was a true synesthete; he discussed his condition to a great extent in his writings, going so far as to describe in detail the exact colorations evoked by particular chords. Contemporary postminimal composer Michael Torke is a synesthete, who perceives colors for various time units. French drummer Manu Katché and world renowned oboist Jennifer Paull are both synesthetes, Katche seeing various images with music, and Paull seeing an expanded unexplainable spectrum to various sounds, the sensation of the oboe compelling her to take it up.In his autobiography, Vladimir Nabokov described his own synaesthetic experiences. The American physicist Richard Feynman admitted to seeing the algebraic symbols of Bessel functions in colour.
Electronic music artist Richard D. James is said to be a synaesthetic, as is Stephen Hargreaves, whose Children of Laudanum titled their first LP Synestheia.
As digital entertainment becomes more developed, the possibility of synaesthesia through technology has begun to be considered. Several video games already use the term in their advertising, most notably the 2001 Dreamcast/ PlayStation 2 game REZ (which does have some elements of synaesthesia in its gameplay, notably the interaction of controller vibration, music, player interaction and graphics).