Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes; May 2003; Scientific American
Magazine; by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward M. Hubbard; 8
Page(s) 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.
Modern scientists have known about synesthesia since 1880, when
Francis Galton, a cousin of