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The Synaesthesia Thread

I have word/taste synesthesia. which isn't always pleasant...
some words taste quite disgusting.
the word "tuesday" has the most pleasant taste, something that I've never actually physically tasted from an outside source, so it's hard to describe, except being vaguely like vanilla ice-cream and maraschino cherry syrup, but much nicer.
Any word that begins with a "har-" sound tastes awful. I can write the words if I don't think about them too closely, which leads me think, in my case, it's linked to the vocalization center of the brain. If I think about the word intently, as if I'm about to speak it, then the taste kicks in...

It does impact my life in certain ways. We couldn't buy a house on...*prepares self*... Harper's Lane, because I can't say it without retching and gagging. And I don't know what i'd do if ever met someone called "Harold". (No offense to anyone with this name!)

Ugh, I can't go on...anyway,I do wish I had one of the cooler versions, sound/color etc. I have a sense of color with words and letters, but it's not strong enough to be true synesthesia in that case.
 
So some of them may not really be frauds.

Healers See The "Aura" Of People

08 May 2012

Researchers in Spain have found that many of the individuals claiming to see the aura of people - traditionally called "healers" or "quacks"- actually present the neuropsychological phenomenon known as "synesthesia" (specifically, "emotional synesthesia"). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged "virtue". In synesthetes, the brain regions responsible for the processing of each type of sensory stimuli are intensely interconnected. This way, synesthetes can see or taste a sound, feel a taste, or associate people with a particular color.

The study was conducted by the University of Granada Department of Experimental Psychology - scar Iborra, Luis Pastor and Emilio Gómez Milán, and has been published in the prestigious journal Consciousness and Cognition. This is the first time that a scientific explanation is provided on the esoteric phenomenon of the aura, a supposed energy field of luminous radiation surrounding a person as a halo, which is imperceptible to most human beings.

In neurological terms, synesthesia is due to cross-wiring in the brain of some people (synesthetes); in other words, synesthetes present more synaptic connections than "normal" people. "These extra connections cause them to automatically establish associations between brain areas that are not normally interconnected", professor Gómez Milán explains. Many healers claiming to see the aura of people might have this condition.

The case of the "Santón de Baza"

The University of Granada researchers remark that "not all healers are synesthetes, but there is a higher prevalence of this phenomenon among them. The same occurs among painters and artists, for example". To carry out this study, the researchers interviewed some synesthetes as the healer from Granada "Esteban Sánchez Casas", known as "El Santón de Baza".

Many people attribute "paranormal powers" to El Santón, such as his ability to see the aura of people "but, in fact, it is a clear case of synesthesia", the researchers explain. El Santón presents face-color synesthesia (the brain region responsible for face recognition is associated with the color-processing region); touch-mirror synesthesia (when the synesthete observes a person who is being touched or is experiencing pain, s/he experiences the same); high empathy (the ability to feel what other person is feeling), and schizotypy (certain personality traits in healthy people involving slight paranoia and delusions). "These capacities make synesthetes have the ability to make people feel understood, and provide them with special emotion and pain reading skills", the researchers explain.

In the light of the results obtained, the researchers remark the significant "placebo effect" that healers have on people, "though some healers really have the ability to see people's auras and feel the pain in others due to synesthesia". Some healers "have abilities and attitudes that make them believe in their ability to heal other people, but it is actually a case of self-deception, as synesthesia is not an extrasensory power, but a subjective and 'adorned' perception of reality", the researchers state.

References:
Auras in mysticism and synaesthesia: a comparison. Consciousness and cognition, 2012, 21(1), 258-268 de Milán, Iborra, Pastor y otros. Avalaible at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 0011002868

Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/245043.php.
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This sounds like an extreme example of synaesthesia!

Jose Mourinho says he doesn't get nervous during matches because he can 'smell' when a goal will be scored
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists his sense of smell can predict the different phases of matches before they happen.
By Telegraph Sport, and agencies
9:15AM BST 07 Oct 2013

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he does not get nervous during matches because he can "smell" when goals are about to be scored.

...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... cored.html

8)
 
I smell horse manure...
 
Article in the Guardian suggesting that many people might experience synaesthesia than expected, particularly at to a fairly subtle degree.

The latest work – only the second published on the phenomenon – suggests that many more of us experience a less intrusive version of the condition in which visual movements or flashes are accompanied by an internal soundtrack of hums, buzzes or swooshes. Since movements are very frequently accompanied by sounds in everyday life, the effect is likely to be barely discernible.
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Maybe laser bolts in space movies always go "pew pew!" because that tight little whizzing sound maps naturally, synaesthetically, for many folks to the image of a fast moving point of light.
 
I posted these in the Trolls Head, and EnolaGaia gave me this link

I was washing some pots at work and we are using Morning Fresh, Fresh Meadow, and to me it smells like parsley sauce, yet to others its violets.
And i got a whiff of the perfume Chloe, it was very strong, and it was coming from the side of me, i turned and it was the bain marie slightly melting something that had spilled in it, but the perfume was unmistakable, gimme a becks blue, I'm losing my mind

Anybody else see smells as colours, i smelt something lovely in the loos, it must be the disinfectant, i don't know what it is but when i smell it i see pink, i dont mean the singer :p
Cant remember ever having this before, weird
 
Shady said:
I'm losing my mind
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Or gaining a cross-sense.

I've only vaguely heard of later-life acquisition of synaesthesia (as opposed to the 'conventional' path of being born differentially-enabled) in the general context of a version appearing after a significant brain injury or perhaps as a reaction to long-term exposure to hallucinogens.

Without wishing to worry you, and being entirely-serious when I ask you some questions: do you feel alright in all other respects?

Are you suffering/experiencing any underlying medical conditions? Do you have any headaches, problems with vision (especially bright lights at the periphery), dizziness, issues with balance?

I have your health & wellbeing in mind when I say, if possible, it might be a good idea to see a doctor, who may want to refer you for tests.
 
I feel as i always have, and i have never taken drugs, except prescription ones, I very very rarely drink, if i do its one bottle, which takes two days to consume, a small one of beer, not a vodka bottle :p
All other things have not changed, so far, thank you for your concern, I'm not too worried, I think I am more curious.
 
Shady said:
Anybody else see smells as colours, i smelt something lovely in the loos, it must be the disinfectant, i don't know what it is but when i smell it i see pink, i dont mean the singer :p
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I've heard she has a reputation for hanging around in loos.
 
Shady said:
I feel as i always have, and i have never taken drugs, except prescription ones, I very very rarely drink, if i do its one bottle, which takes two days to consume, a small one of beer, not a vodka bottle :p
All other things have not changed, so far, thank you for your concern, I'm not too worried, I think I am more curious.
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Shady, you mentioned in another thread you're been taking antibiotics. Any chance that could have something to do with it?

After your course of meds is finished, see if you can get another whiff of that disinfectant. If it's synesthesia, it should have the same effect every time.
 
Ulalume said:
If it's synesthesia, it should have the same effect every time.
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I've just had a simple-yet-radical idea, one which must already have been considered within the specialism that is neuroscience.

It is accepted that neural pathways within the brain are generated, and cross-connected, (transiently and/or permanently) at many levels. This creates (facilitates? hosts?) thought, memory and perception.

Suppose a synaesthetic sensory path were to be generated, in later life where one has not existed before....perhaps due to some trigger.

Say for example, a smell (especially that...though I would cautiously-suggest that I don't exactly mean through a clumsy transcellular biochemical gas process....I mean more as a function of the intrinsically-intimate, inescapably-inspirational overall nature of the sense that is smell itself)...a special unexperienced-by-the-experiencer scent, might that particular putative pong be sensed in such a way, that it tripped a synaesthetic link?

And perhaps the brain (your brain) cannot unlearn that link....such that, now, almost like a baying bloodhound or a pheremonally-famished butterfly, you will only need a couple of molecules of odour, floating in a cathedral of still air, to nasally-trigger your envisualisatory experiences??

Do you have any other sub-evident superpowers? Well, you won't know....but you might suspect.

(ps Keep a lookout for unmarked vans, and well-dressed people wearing sunglasses indoors (unless you live in Whitby, in which case you may think the entire population is following you...and, who knows, perhaps they are)
 
Ulalume said:
Shady, you mentioned in another thread you're been taking antibiotics. Any chance that could have something to do with it?

After your course of meds is finished, see if you can get another whiff of that disinfectant. If it's synesthesia, it should have the same effect every time.
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The pink smell i had smelt way before the antibiotics and also the parsley sauce and Chloe smells were after the course about a week after i believe, i find it is weird that it is only the one colour.

OoOoOOOoo that would be cool, to be followed lol, wish i did have superpowers lol but just a normal woman who loves cats :D
 
Shady said:
I posted these in the Trolls Head, and EnolaGaia gave me this link

I was washing some pots at work and we are using Morning Fresh, Fresh Meadow, and to me it smells like parsley sauce, yet to others its violets.
And i got a whiff of the perfume Chloe, it was very strong, and it was coming from the side of me, i turned and it was the bain marie slightly melting something that had spilled in it, but the perfume was unmistakable, gimme a becks blue, I'm losing my mind

Anybody else see smells as colours, i smelt something lovely in the loos, it must be the disinfectant, i don't know what it is but when i smell it i see pink, i dont mean the singer :p
Cant remember ever having this before, weird
Click to expand...

I don't think you're losing your mind!
I think you are becoming more attuned to your sense of smell - when you consider that finished fragrances can contain many (sometimes >100) individual ingredients, it is possible that you have tuned in to one of them and your brain is linking it to another fragrance memory.
Everyone has a different fragrance experience, a different set of odour receptors and a different fragrance memory - hence the parsley sauce versus violets debate!

Smelling as colours is interesting, sometimes I smell and a colour springs to mind but mostly for me the odour is in a certain position. It's hard to describe but if I close my eyes it's as if the smell is on a clock face - sharp, fruity, citrusy odours are at 1 or 2; woody, earthy odours are at the bottom at about 6; purple, red odours are around 9ish.
Another colleague of mine said that she smells a "shape"!

Actually, now I've put that into words, I think we're all losing our minds :wide:
 
Maviself said:
I don't think you're losing your mind!
I think you are becoming more attuned to your sense of smell - when you consider that finished fragrances can contain many (sometimes >100) individual ingredients, it is possible that you have tuned in to one of them and your brain is linking it to another fragrance memory.
Everyone has a different fragrance experience, a different set of odour receptors and a different fragrance memory - hence the parsley sauce versus violets debate!

Smelling as colours is interesting, sometimes I smell and a colour springs to mind but mostly for me the odour is in a certain position. It's hard to describe but if I close my eyes it's as if the smell is on a clock face - sharp, fruity, citrusy odours are at 1 or 2; woody, earthy odours are at the bottom at about 6; purple, red odours are around 9ish.
Another colleague of mine said that she smells a "shape"!

Actually, now I've put that into words, I think we're all losing our minds :wide:
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Nope, not losing your mind! Sounds like one of the spatial forms of synesthesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
Huh, the Wikipedia page on this subject is far more informative than it used to be. Back when I was "officially" diagnosed in '96 (as if I hadn't known it my whole life!) it seemed to be just some curiosity that no one was much interested in. Looks like there's more interest now.
 
Because I'm "in the industry" this is basically a tool I've developed to help me with my day to day job, a function of becoming more attuned to my sense of smell. So I would not claim to have any special talents.
You are right in saying there is more interest around this subject - I would be fascinated to learn how many other people have synesthesia and what form it takes.
 
This doctor has a variant form of synaesthesia - mirror touch synaesthesia - that I don't recall ever reading about before. It's a form of the condition in which a person experiences phantom sensations / perceptions of things happening to another person they're observing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror-touch_synesthesia

The doctor who really feels his patients' pain
For Dr Joel Salinas, music creates colours, numbers have personalities and another person's pain feels almost like his own. He thought that was how everyone experienced the world - until he went to medical school.

Joel Salinas rushes in to the hospital bathroom and throws up until he's dry heaving. Washing his face, the third-year medical student stares at his pale reflection in the mirror and wills himself to live.

He doesn't know it yet, but Salinas has a condition called mirror-touch synaesthesia. Any time he sees someone experience pain, or even just the sense of touch, his brain recreates the sensations in his own body. And on this day in 2008 he has just watched someone die.

"Someone had a cardiac arrest and it completely caught me off guard," he says.

"I saw them getting chest compressions and I could feel my back on the linoleum floor and the compressions on my own chest. I felt the breathing tube scraping down the back of my throat."

When the patient was declared dead 30 minutes later Salinas experienced an "eerie silence". ...
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FULL STORY: http://www.bbc.com/news/stories-43572639
 
The musician Thom Yorke has synaesthesia. He 'sees' music.

I've just learned this from listening to him on Desert Island Discs -
Desert Island Discs

Even though he only mentions synaesthesia in passing it's still well worth a listen. He is SO talented and interesting.
 
From a blog comment ( not me):

Without fail, every time I hear a harpsichord, I see spiders--not that I'm an arachnophobe, but the longer I hear the harpsichord, the more elaborate the hanging webs become.

The inevitable association does not make for avid listening, I have found. (One invocation of arachnid bliss, though, is to be found in Shostakovich's "Hamlet" suite in the "Ophelia" section where the harpsichord is featured to great effect.)
 
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Wow this it a strange concept to me that i havent encountered before, from reading the post on this thread i have a couple of opinions, firstly you're all crazy lol no not really, association springs to mind with a lot of these cases, someone smells a smell i, it reminds them of something that has a colour, the toilet case in particular, the smell of 'bloo' might bring to mind the colour blue, that is obvious, hearing the singer 'Pink' makes you think of the colour pink, seeing tv channel listings in green on a wednesday makes you think wednesday is green, it doesnt work for all cases but i think a lot of them can be but down to association more than anything else, being nausiated by words im not sure about, but could easily be down to some traumatic experience associated with certain words or sounds, in general im undecided, having never associated smells,sounds, days or anything else with colours or anything else, at a push id associate mondays with blue, purely down to 'New Orders' hit 'Blue Monday' but thats classic associaton.
 
Life with lexical-gustatory synaesthesia.

Man who can taste, smell and feel words won't date a Kirsty 'as name has scent of urine'​

Henry Gray, 23, says he been able to taste, smell or have a feeling associated with words for as long as he can remember.




A man who has a rare condition where he can smell words says he would never date a Kirsty because the name has a scent like urine. Henry Gray, 23, says he been able to taste, smell or have a feeling associated with words for as long as he can remember.
After his parents and teachers picked up on him commenting on the tastes for his classmate's names he discovered he had lexical-gustatory synaesthesia in 2009. Synaesthesia is a neurological condition that results in the joining or merging of senses that aren't normally connected.
Those affected can often taste or smell when hearing, speaking, reading or thinking about words. For Henry the name Boris Johnson tastes like 'squishing a hard-shelled beetle with his foot' and Harry Styles is like 'hair sticking up like telephone wires'.
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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/man-who-can-taste-smell-27646654
 
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