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Synaesthesia: Mixed-Up Senses

We generally think of our senses as having completely separate functions. This is a logical assumption; after all, we can’t see with our ears or taste with our eyes. For people with a condition called synaesthesia, however, senses can be conflated, or mixed together. In fact, the word synaesthesia, derived from Greek, literally means ‘sensations together’. This combining of senses causes interesting sensory experiences. For example, some synaesthetes (people who experience synaesthesia) imagine tasting a particular flavour whenever they hear a certain sound. Others ‘hear’ a sound in their minds whenever they touch a certain object. The most common types of synaesthesia involve colours. In one common subtype, for instance, synaesthetes associate different colours with different letters of the alphabet. Typically, synaesthetes are not bothered by their synaesthesia; in fact, many enjoy it.