A World of Merging Senses

When I meet someone who is forest green, 7x7=49, Thursday, 23º, November, Mahogany Teakwood candle, rays of sunshine on your face, and a vanilla chai latte at 7:54pm, they might think I’m crazy. But for people with synesthesia, this sensory crossover is perfectly normal. Synesthesia is a neurological condition where stimulation of one sense automatically triggers another, leading to vivid, often unexpected, sensory experiences.

What is Synesthesia?

Synesthesia derives from the Greek words 'syn' (together) and 'aisthesis' (perception), meaning "joined perception." Roughly 4% of the population experiences this phenomenon, where senses like sight, sound, and taste blend together in unique ways. Some people see colours when they hear music, others taste flavours when they hear words. While the exact cause is unknown, one theory suggests synesthesia results from excess neural connections between sensory areas in the brain.

My Personal Experience

I stumbled upon synesthesia on a random Monday afternoon, scrolling through social media. People were debating whether math was red or blue (for me, it's blue), and I realised my experience of linking colours to subjects and numbers wasn’t universal. For instance, math is blue, English is red, science is green, and psychology is purple. These associations make sense to me, though I can’t explain why.

My favourite association is Sunday, the Winx fairy Bloom, and the colour sky blue. Sunday in Spanish is "Domingo," and Bloom is from the planet "Domino." Her boyfriend in the show is Prince Sky, and she wears sky blue and light pink. Therefore, in my mind, Sunday is Bloom, and Bloom is sky blue. There’s no logic, but it just feels right.

Types of Synesthesia

Grapheme-colour synesthesia: Letters or numbers are linked to specific colours. For example, Thursday just feels like the perfect day to me. Even the Spanish translation of the word Thursday into ‘Jueves’ just feels right. Like when Goldilocks finds the right bowl of porridge. I’ve found so many random associations in the media and that I agree with: 

• Warm water is smooth / Cold water is sharp

• 7x3=21 is Tuesday 

• Yellow is triangle and so is summer and Fridays

• The word unique and the month February is purple 

• Light pink, golden doodles, and the month May are all related

• Navy blue, 9:46, 10x10=100, and Sunday evenings

Lexical-gustatory synesthesia: Certain words evoke tastes. When I hear the colour purple, I immediately think of the artificial taste of grape candy. It’s not even real grapes—it’s that unmistakable artificial flavour that candies like Skittles and Hubba-Bubba use.

The last form is ‘Chromesthesia’. Sounds such as music or voices can trigger colours or even shapes. For example if you hear a trumpet playing you might see flashes of blue or yellow or associate it with triangle shapes. A piano chord can trigger the perception of a smooth flowing spiral of a music stave in treble clef in black and white, while a drum beat might evoke sharp angular shapes. 

Is Synesthesia a Superpower?

For some, synesthesia might seem like a sensory superpower, as it can enhance creativity, memory, and perception. Synesthetes often find their unique associations help them recall information more vividly. For instance, someone who links numbers with colours might find math problems easier to solve because each number "stands out" in their mind with its own distinct hue.

However, for others, synesthesia can be overwhelming. Some synesthetes report feeling overstimulated in environments where multiple senses are activated simultaneously, such as at a busy concert or a loud party.

Synesthesia and Science

Although synesthesia has been known for centuries, it wasn’t widely studied until the late 20th century. Today, researchers are exploring how synesthesia works in the brain and how it might be related to other neurological phenomena.

Studies have shown that synesthesia may be genetic, as it often runs in families. Additionally, some researchers are investigating whether synesthesia could be induced in non-synesthetes through training or sensory deprivation, though the effects are temporary and not as vivid as naturally occurring synesthesia.

Synesthesia offers a glimpse into how differently people can experience the world. Whether it’s associating music with colours, tasting words, or linking days of the week with numbers, synesthesia challenges our understanding of sensory perception. It reveals how interconnected our senses can be, creating a fascinating and diverse view of reality. For synesthetes, the world is an intricate blend of sounds, colours, and tastes, where everything seems connected in ways that go beyond traditional sensory boundaries.