Synesthesia  

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-{{Template}}+[[Image:The-bouba-kiki-effect.png|thumb|right|200px|The [[Bouba/kiki effect]] (1929)]]{{Template}}
-:[[Synesthesia in art]]+
-# A [[physiological]] or [[psychological]] [[phenomenon]] whereby a particular [[sensory]] [[stimulus]] triggers a second kind of [[sensation]]. For example, reading the letter 'r' may trigger the visual sensation of the colour purple in the mind or the eye of the [[synaesthete]] ([[grapheme]] → colour synaesthesia); or, more rarely, for example, the [[phoneme]] /l/ may [[elicit]] the taste of [[mince]] ([[lexical]] → [[gustatory]] synaesthesia).+
-# A literary device whereby one kind of sensation is described in the terms of another. (''Then these melodies turn to ice as real night music takes over, pianos and vibes erecting clusters in the high brittle octaves and a clarinet wandering across like a crack on a pond. Saxes doing the same figure eight over and over again.'' —John Updike, ''Rabbit, Run'')+
-'''Synesthesia''' (also spelled '''synæsthesia''' or '''synaesthesia''', plural '''synesthesiae''' or '''synaesthesiae''')—from the Ancient Greek (syn), meaning "with," and (aisthēsis), meaning "[[sensation]]"'—is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one [[sensory]] or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. While cross-sensory [[metaphor]]s (e.g., "[[loud]] shirt", "[[bitter]] wind" or "[[prickly]] laugh") are sometimes described as "synesthetic", true neurological synesthesia is involuntary. +
-== Overview ==+'''Synesthesia''' (also spelled '''synæsthesia''' or '''synaesthesia''', plural '''synesthesiae''' or '''synaesthesiae''')—from the Ancient Greek (syn), meaning "with," and ([[aisthēsis]]), meaning "[[sensation]]"'—is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one [[sensory]] or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. While cross-sensory [[metaphor]]s (e.g., "[[loud]] shirt", "[[bitter]] wind" or "[[prickly]] laugh") are sometimes described as "synesthetic", true neurological synesthesia is involuntary.
-In one common form of synesthesia, known as [[grapheme-color synesthesia|grapheme → color synesthesia]], [[letter]]s or [[numeral|numbers]] are perceived as inherently colored, while in [[ordinal linguistic personification]], numbers, days of the week and months of the year evoke personalities. In spatial-sequence, or [[number form]] synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may have a three-dimensional view of a year as a map (clockwise or counterclockwise).+==Artistic investigations==
 +:''[[synesthesia in art]]; [[synesthesia in literature]]''
-It is estimated that synesthesia could possibly be as prevalent as 1 in 23 persons across its range of variants. Synesthesia runs strongly in families, but the precise mode of inheritance has yet to be ascertained. Synesthesia is also sometimes reported by individuals under the influence of [[psychedelic drug]]s, after a [[stroke]], or as a consequence of [[blindness]] or [[deafness]]. Synesthesia that arises from such non-genetic events is referred to as ''adventitious synesthesia'' to distinguish it from the more common ''congenital'' forms of synesthesia. Adventitious synesthesia involving drugs or stroke (but not blindness or deafness) apparently only involves sensory linkings such as sound → vision or touch → hearing; there are few if any reported cases involving culture-based, learned sets such as [[graphemes]], [[lexemes]], days of the week, or months of the year.+The word "synesthesia" has been used for 300 years to describe very different things, from [[poetry]] and [[metaphor]] to deliberately contrived mixed-media applications. It is crucial to separate artists using synesthesia as ''an intellectual idea''—pseudo-synesthetes such as [[Georgia O'Keeffe]] who used such titles as "[[Music-Pink and Blue]]" — from those who had the genuine perceptual variety, such as [[Wassily Kandinsky]] or [[Olivier Messiaen]].
-Although synesthesia was the topic of intensive scientific investigation in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was largely abandoned in the mid-20th century, and has only recently been rediscovered by modern researchers. [[Psychology|Psychological]] research has demonstrated that synesthetic experiences can have measurable behavioral consequences, while [[functional neuroimaging]] studies have identified differences in patterns of brain activation.+The French [[Romanticism|Romantic]] poets [[Arthur Rimbaud]] and [[Charles Baudelaire]] wrote poems which focused on synesthetic experience, but were evidently not synesthetes themselves. Baudelaire's ''[[Correspondances]]'' (1857) introduced the Romantic notion that the senses can and should intermingle. Rimbaud, following Baudelaire, wrote ''[[Voyelles]]'' (1871) which was perhaps more important than ''[[Correspondances]]'' in popularizing synesthesia, although he later admitted ""J'inventais la couleur des voyelles!" [I invented the colors of the vowels!].
-Many people with synesthesia use their experiences to aid in their creative process, and many non-synesthetes have attempted to create works of art that may capture what it is like to experience synesthesia. Psychologists and neuroscientists study synesthesia not only for its inherent interest, but also for the insights it may give into cognitive and perceptual processes that occur in synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike.+Synesthesia has been a source of inspiration for artists, composers, poets, novelists, and digital artists. [[Vladimir Nabokov|Nabokov]] writes explicitly about synesthesia in several novels. [[Wassily Kandinsky|Kandinsky]] (a synesthete) and Mondrian (not a synesthete) both experimented with image-music correspondences in their paintings. [[Alexander Scriabin|Scriabin]] composed color music that was deliberately contrived, whereas [[Olivier Messiaen|Messiaen]] invented a new method of composition to specifically render his bi-directional sound-color synesthesia. For example, the red rocks of [[Bryce Canyon National Park|Bryce Canyon]] are depicted in his symphony ''[[Des canyons aux étoiles]]'' ("From the Canyons to the Stars").
 +== History ==
 +:''[[History of synesthesia research]]
 +The interest in colored hearing dates back to Greek antiquity, when philosophers asked if the color (''chroia'', what we now call [[timbre]]) of music was a quantifiable quality. [[Isaac Newton]] proposed that musical tones and color tones shared common frequencies, as did [[Goethe]] in his book ''[[Theory of Colours]]''. There is a long history of building color organs such as the [[clavier à lumières]] on which to perform colored music in concert halls.
-== People with synesthesia ==+The first medical description of "colored hearing" is in an 1812 thesis by the German physician Sachs. The "father of psychophysics," [[Gustav Fechner]], reported the first empirical survey of colored letter photisms among 73 synesthetes in 1876, followed in the 1880s by [[Francis Galton]]. [[Carl Jung]] refers to "color hearing" in his Symbols of Transformation in 1912. Research into synesthesia proceeded briskly in several countries, but due to the difficulties in measuring subjective experiences and the rise of [[behaviorism]], which made the study of ''any'' subjective experience taboo, synesthesia faded into scientific oblivion between 1930 and 1980.
-There is a great deal of debate about whether or not synesthesia can be identified through historical sources. A small number of famous people have been labeled as synesthetes on the basis of at least two historical sources. This includes individuals of many different talents, such as artists, novelists, composers, musicians, and scientists. +
-Artists with synesthesia include the painter [[David Hockney]], who perceives music synesthetically as colors, and who used these synesthetic colors when painting stage sets, but not in creating his other artworks. Also, Russian painter [[Wassily Kandinsky]] had the same type of synesthesia (sound and color). Perhaps the most famous synesthete author was [[Vladimir Nabokov]], who had grapheme → color synesthesia, one of the most common types, which he described at length in his autobiography, ''Speak Memory'', and which he sometimes portrays in giving his characters synesthesia. Composers include [[Duke Ellington]] (timbre → color), [[Franz Liszt]] (music → color), [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]], and [[Olivier Messiaen]], who had a complex form of synesthesia in which chord structures produced synesthetic colors. Notable synesthete scientists include [[Richard Feynman]]. Feynman describes in his autobiography, ''What Do You Care What Other People Think?,'' that he had the grapheme → color type. Other notable synesthetes include musician [[John Mayer]]; actress [[Stephanie Carswell]]; and electronic musician [[Aphex Twin]], who borrows inspiration from [[lucid dreams]] as well as synesthesia (music → color). The classical pianist [[Hélène Grimaud]] has the condition also.+As the 1980s [[cognitive revolution]] made inquiry into internal subjective states respectable again, scientists returned to synesthesia. Led in the United States by Larry Marks and [[Richard Cytowic]], and later in England by [[Simon Baron-Cohen]] and [[Jeffrey Alan Gray|Jeffrey Gray]], researchers explored the reality, consistency, and frequency of synesthetic experiences. In the late 1990s, the focus settled on grapheme → color synesthesia, one of the most common and easily studied types. Psychologists and neuroscientists study synesthesia not only for its inherent appeal, but also for the insights it may give into cognitive and perceptual processes that occur in synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike. Synesthesia is now the topic of scientific books and papers, PhD theses, documentary films, and even novels.
-Some of the most frequently mentioned artists in connection with synesthesia probably were not synesthetes. Despite compositions such as [[Prometheus: Poem of Fire|''Prometheus: The Poem of Fire'']] and ''[[Mysterium (Scriabin)|Mysterium]]'', the Russian composer [[Alexander Scriabin]] was most likely not a synesthete. He was particularly interested in the psychological effects on the audience when they experienced sound and color simultaneously. His theory was that when the correct color was perceived with the correct sound, ‘a powerful psychological resonator for the listener’ would be created. On the score of ''Prometheus'' Scriabin wrote next to the instruments separate parts for the color organ (Galeyev 2001, Gleich 1963). 
- 
-The French [[Romanticism|Romantic]] poets [[Arthur Rimbaud]] and [[Charles Baudelaire]] wrote poems which focused on synesthetic experience, but were evidently not synesthetes themselves. Baudelaire's ''[[Correspondances]]'' (1857) [http://www.doctorhugo.org/synaesthesia/baudelaire.html]) introduced the Romantic notion that the senses can and should intermingle. Kevin Dann argues that Baudelaire probably learned of synesthesia from reading medical textbooks that were available in his home. Rimbaud, following Baudelaire, wrote ''[[Voyelles]]'' (1871) ([http://www.doctorhugo.org/synaesthesia/rimbaud.html ]) which was perhaps more important than ''[[Correspondances]]'' in popularizing synesthesia, although he later admitted ""J'inventais la couleur des voyelles!" [I invented the colors of the vowels!]. 
==See also== ==See also==
<div style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"> <div style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
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*[[Perception]] *[[Perception]]
*[[Parosmia]] *[[Parosmia]]
 +*[[Symbolism (arts)]]
*[[Theory of multiple intelligences]] (using multiple senses) *[[Theory of multiple intelligences]] (using multiple senses)
*[[Visual music]] *[[Visual music]]

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Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae or synaesthesiae)—from the Ancient Greek (syn), meaning "with," and (aisthēsis), meaning "sensation"'—is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. While cross-sensory metaphors (e.g., "loud shirt", "bitter wind" or "prickly laugh") are sometimes described as "synesthetic", true neurological synesthesia is involuntary.

Artistic investigations

synesthesia in art; synesthesia in literature

The word "synesthesia" has been used for 300 years to describe very different things, from poetry and metaphor to deliberately contrived mixed-media applications. It is crucial to separate artists using synesthesia as an intellectual idea—pseudo-synesthetes such as Georgia O'Keeffe who used such titles as "Music-Pink and Blue" — from those who had the genuine perceptual variety, such as Wassily Kandinsky or Olivier Messiaen.

The French Romantic poets Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire wrote poems which focused on synesthetic experience, but were evidently not synesthetes themselves. Baudelaire's Correspondances (1857) introduced the Romantic notion that the senses can and should intermingle. Rimbaud, following Baudelaire, wrote Voyelles (1871) which was perhaps more important than Correspondances in popularizing synesthesia, although he later admitted ""J'inventais la couleur des voyelles!" [I invented the colors of the vowels!].

Synesthesia has been a source of inspiration for artists, composers, poets, novelists, and digital artists. Nabokov writes explicitly about synesthesia in several novels. Kandinsky (a synesthete) and Mondrian (not a synesthete) both experimented with image-music correspondences in their paintings. Scriabin composed color music that was deliberately contrived, whereas Messiaen invented a new method of composition to specifically render his bi-directional sound-color synesthesia. For example, the red rocks of Bryce Canyon are depicted in his symphony Des canyons aux étoiles ("From the Canyons to the Stars").

History

History of synesthesia research

The interest in colored hearing dates back to Greek antiquity, when philosophers asked if the color (chroia, what we now call timbre) of music was a quantifiable quality. Isaac Newton proposed that musical tones and color tones shared common frequencies, as did Goethe in his book Theory of Colours. There is a long history of building color organs such as the clavier à lumières on which to perform colored music in concert halls.

The first medical description of "colored hearing" is in an 1812 thesis by the German physician Sachs. The "father of psychophysics," Gustav Fechner, reported the first empirical survey of colored letter photisms among 73 synesthetes in 1876, followed in the 1880s by Francis Galton. Carl Jung refers to "color hearing" in his Symbols of Transformation in 1912. Research into synesthesia proceeded briskly in several countries, but due to the difficulties in measuring subjective experiences and the rise of behaviorism, which made the study of any subjective experience taboo, synesthesia faded into scientific oblivion between 1930 and 1980.

As the 1980s cognitive revolution made inquiry into internal subjective states respectable again, scientists returned to synesthesia. Led in the United States by Larry Marks and Richard Cytowic, and later in England by Simon Baron-Cohen and Jeffrey Gray, researchers explored the reality, consistency, and frequency of synesthetic experiences. In the late 1990s, the focus settled on grapheme → color synesthesia, one of the most common and easily studied types. Psychologists and neuroscientists study synesthesia not only for its inherent appeal, but also for the insights it may give into cognitive and perceptual processes that occur in synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike. Synesthesia is now the topic of scientific books and papers, PhD theses, documentary films, and even novels.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Synesthesia" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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