Synesthesia

While I think I have a pretty good command of the English and a robust vocabulary, I’m pleasantly surprised when I’m exposed to a new word.  This happened recently while listening to a brief interview in which a young lady shared that she has dealt with a unique condition for as long as she could remember called synesthesia.  In a cute sort of way, she remarked that she learned that she was different one day, in a discussion with some of her girlfriends, when she remarked that, in her mind, numbers were associated with colors.  Like orange being the number 3!

When her friends reacted incredulously, she realized, for the first time, that this way of perceiving was not relatable to everyone.  Some time later, one of her friends who had been part of the conversation approached her and said that she had recently watched a documentary on a condition called synesthesia and she, “knew what was wrong with her”.

While the term “wrong” might have made sense to a thirteen-year-old, it’s certainly not an appropriate way to describe a neurological condition.  One estimate is that 4% of the population may have experienced one of the nine recognized forms of this condition also known as “sensory cross-over” that can impact the way individuals perceive colors, sound, smells and touch.

Little is known about how synesthesia develops; however, it has been suggested that it initially manifests during childhood when children are intensively engaged with abstract concepts for the first time. 

The earliest recorded case of synesthesia is attributed to the Oxford University academic and philosopher John Locke, who, in 1690, made a report about a blind man who said he experienced the color scarlet when he heard the sound of a trumpet.  However, there is disagreement as to whether Locke described an actual instance of synesthesia or was using a metaphor.  The first medical account came from German physician Georg Tobias Ludwig Sachs in 1812.

While usually self-diagnosed, I wasn’t surprised to learn that some of the most creative individuals in our society, Billy Joel, Vincent Van Gogh and Vladimir Nabokov have had experiences with this neurological phenomenon.