Synaesthesia (also spelled synesthesia); from the Greek (syn-) “union”, and (aesthesis) “sensation”; is the neurological mixing of the senses. A synaesthete may, for example, hear colors, see sounds, and taste tactile sensations. That means, the perception of one stimulus evokes a second perception. Synaesthesia is a common effect of some hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD or mescaline.
Synaesthetes often experience correspondences between the shades of color, tones of sounds, and intensities of tastes that provoke altern ...
Synaesthesia is a real phenomenon: indeed, some people see colors when they hear or read letters and numbers (the most common form). Others taste and feel sounds, colors, and so forth.
A genuine type of Synaesthesia shows the following qualities:
it works like a dictionary: one stimulus always evokes a certain perception
the perception occurs involuntarily
the perceptions are individual: every Synaesthete has their "own" colors and shapes
the perceptions are irreversible: a 7 might evoke the col ...
Synaesthesia is an often-used poetic device. In a familiar example, Andrew Marvell characterized the fruitful and serene atmosphere of the garden as
Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green shade
( —"The Garden")
Likewise, Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, recounts "yellow cocktail music" playing at one of Gatsby's parties.
Synaesthesia as a drug effect played a role in the popular song "Lake Shore Drive" by Aliotta-Haynes-Jeremiah:
Sometimes you can smell the green
When your mind is feeling fin ...
