Why Some Humans Hear Color and Taste Sounds: Synesthesia

People perceive things differently, and some people actually hear colors and see sounds. This condition, called synesthesia, has long intrigued scientists. Now, researchers have learned a bit more about the phenomenon in a new study.

"Things like hearing shapes, so a triangle will trigger a sound or a color, or they might have a specific taste sensation when they hear a particular sound," said Stephanie Goodhew, one of the researchers, in a news release. "One person reported that smells have certain shapes. For example, the smell of fresh air is rectangular, coffee is a bubbly cloud shape and people could smell round or square."

The researchers measured the extent that people with synesthesia draw meaning between words.

"For them words like 'doctor' and 'nurse' are very closely associated, where 'doctor' and 'table' are very unrelated," said Goodhew. "Much more so than for people without the condition."

Going in, the researchers predicted that those with synesthesia might have a more concrete style of thinking that does not emphasize conceptual-level relations between stimuli, given that they have very rigid pairings between sensory experiences. In the end, though, the researchers found the opposite to be true.

The findings reveal a bit more about synesthesia and that it has much stronger mental associations between related concepts than once thought.

The findings are published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

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