Time for a Little History Lesson

If you’ve never heard of synesthesia you’re among the majority. Synethesia is one of those conditions you read about on a “20 weird conditions” list you find online, and then wonder if they’re actually real. Here’s a fact that will blow your mind… The first documented case of synesthesia was in 1812 when George Sachs wrote a dissertation about his own synesthetic experiences. Research on synesthesia was continued by Sir Francis Galton during 1880s.

But at the turn of the century scientists lost interest and synesthesia was ignored until around the mid 80s. But there are several reasons why synesthesia was forgotten.

• There is no concrete way to diagnose synesthesia
• Synesthetes often reported symptoms for their synesthesia that differed from other synesthetes, or would report a completely different combination of senses. 
• Synesthetic experiences often sound like symptoms of schizophrenia or psychosis
• Synesthesia is harmless and doesn't interfere with daily life.

I'll go into more detail for each of these later on. 

For me, the history of synesthesia, or lack thereof, makes sense because it can be very hard to explain. I don’t know why a piano sounds like blue circles and I can’t describe it beyond that general color and shape. Combine a subject who can’t accurately explain what they see/hear/feel and a scientist who wants hard facts and data, it doesn't really work out that well.

I'm going to start going into some of my personal experiences later this week so stay tuned. You can read more about the history of synesthesia as well as some other aspects of synesthesia if you feel like it. 

Hearing Color... Literally!

I've always been able hear colors and textures in music and peoples' voices and that it wasn’t normal, but I didn’t know there was actually a name for what I was experiencing. Synesthesia literally means the combining of the senses. When a normal person perceives something, it’s only with one sense. For synesthetes, one sense will automatically and involuntarily trigger another. 

My sound-color synesthesia triggers colors, shapes and textures when I hear music and voices. One example is the voice of a classmate that's a sticky mixture of fluorescent pink and orange. 

On my blog you can find

• Research and Facts about Synesthesia
• My personal experiences 
• Links to other sites, articles and blogs about synesthesia 

If you want some more information on synesthesia, check out this article in Scientific American