[thechat] Scientific American Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes

Madhu Menon webguru at vsnl.net
Wed May 7 23:30:27 CDT 2003


http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0003014B-9D06-1E8F-8EA5809EC5880000 


<quote>

When Matthew Blakeslee shapes hamburger patties with his hands, he 
experiences a vivid bitter taste in his mouth. Esmerelda Jones (a 
pseudonym) sees blue when she listens to the note C sharp played on the 
piano; other notes evoke different hues--so much so that the piano keys are 
actually color-coded, making it easier for her to remember and play musical 
scales. And when Jeff Coleman looks at printed black numbers, he sees them 
in color, each a different hue.

Blakeslee, Jones and Coleman are among a handful of otherwise normal people 
who have synesthesia. They experience the ordinary world in extraordinary 
ways and seem to inhabit a mysterious no-man's-land between fantasy and 
reality. For them the senses--touch, taste, hearing, vision and smell--get 
mixed up instead of remaining separate.

</quote>

Madhu



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