T H E S I A
Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life
Letters or numbers are colored!
Sounds are colored!
o W ? W H Y ?
Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, from the ancient Greek σύν
[syn], "together", and α σθησιςἴ [aisthēsis], "sensation") is a neurological phenomenon
in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic,
involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who report
such experiences are known as synesthetes.
Russian composer and pianist. Scriabin was influenced by
synesthesia, and associated colors with the various harmonic tones of
his atonal scale.
For him, circle of fifths was colored
There are several types of synesthesia.
1. Grapheme-color synesthesia
3. Spatial sequence synesthesia
4. Number form 5. Auditory-tactile synesthesia
8. Lexical-gustatory synesthesia
Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which two or more bodily
senses are coupled. For example, in a form of synesthesia known as
Grapheme → color synesthesia, letters or numbers may be perceived
as inherently colored. In another, called number → form synesthesia,
numbers are automatically and consistently associated with locations
in space. In other forms of synesthesia, music and other sounds may
be perceived as colored or having particular shapes.
Neural basis of synesthesia
Two major theories have been proposed concerning the neural basis of
synesthesia. Both theories start from the observation that there are
dedicated regions of the brain that are specialized for certain
functions. For example, the part of the human brain involved in
processing visual input, called the visual cortex can be further
subdivided into regions that are preferentially involved in color-
processing (the fourth visual area, V4) or with motion processing,
called V5 or MT. Based on this notion of specialized regions, some
researchers have suggested that increased cross-talk between
different regions specialized for different functions may account for
different types of synesthesia.
Neural basis of synesthesia
Maybe the the same mechanism (cross-talk between different regions
specialized for different functions )generates our creative and
Why do we fly in our dreams? Why in a dream we see strange creatures?
Maybe all the same mechanism?
Сross-talk between different regions specialized for different functions .
It is wonderful to discover the complicated world of Neurobiology. Thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed the
Hubbard, E. M.; Arman, A. C.; Ramachandran, V. S.; Boynton, G. M. (2005a), "Individual differences among
grapheme-color synesthetes: Brain-behavior correlations", Neuron 45 (6): 975–985.
Ramachandran, V. S.; Hubbard, E. M. (2001), "Synaesthesia: A window into perception, thought and language",
Journal of Consciousness Studies 8 (12): 3–34
Grossenbacher, P. G., Lovelace, C. T. (2001). Mechanism of synesthesia: Cognitive and physiological constraints.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, (5)1, 36–41.
The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human, 2010