Growing up with Synesthesia--a Response

MIT Press Author, Cretien van Campen has written a response to the Salon.com article The Letter E is Purple, written by Alison Buckholtz.  To hear more about Cretien van Campen's book, a free podcast is available. 

Alison Buckholtz has written a beautiful and moving account of growing up with synesthesia on Salon.com. She remembers her perceptual ability to see letters, numbers, and persons in color.  Initially this gave her pleasure as a young child (“I enjoyed my synesthesia, playing with it as a kitten would bat around a ball of yarn.”), was quite confused as an teenager when she realized she was different and faced the dangers of social alienation (“I decided I was a total freak.”), and finally discovered as an adult that synesthesia can be a practical tool in daily life. (“the gift of synesthesia”).

Her story has many parallels with the stories of synesthetes who I interviewed for my book The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science.  Most synesthetes discover their extra perceptual abilities during early childhood. For some it was stressing (like in sensory overload), but many persons developed it as a practical tool like in mental calculating with color or planning your diary in colors by heart. Synesthetic musicians report they use synesthesia in composing and scientists tell they use it to analyze complex formula.

In the media, synesthesia is well-known as a neurological phenomenon, but is has many social sides too, which have been neglected thus far by researchers. Synesthesia is not only something that happens in your brain, but is also something that affects your personal life. This week I posted a statement on “The Social Sides of Synesthesia” at the European discussion forum Yasmin,  asking synesthetes what does synesthesia mean for them. Would they miss it? What would happen to their daily and social functioning if they suddenly lost their synesthetic abilities?

 

Cretien van Campen

www.synesthesie.nl

 

 

Comments

[praise Mbeka]

Moving accounts of ways the world can be seen...to learn more,go to the Synesthesia Resource Center:

http://www.bluecats.info

[Keiten]

My mom printed me out some synesthesia information about a year ago because she said she found she had it and thought i might also. I don't do the number, letter and color association but i wonder if some of the things i have grown up with and seem stronger as i am adult are a type or are part of the spectrum of Synesthesia. I have a picture with almost every thought. My mind processes in slideshows that somehow all fit together but not in any rational way. almost metaphorical pictures that also are attached to people when i see them. People always look like some other object or animal in my mind when i describe them. but not a literal animal. i can see their faces but they compare to objects and animals. I also, have really strong smell and hearing associations. Everything has a smell and all smells attach themselves really stronly to memories. They aren't logical smells such as seeing a potato and automatically smelling mashed potatoes without being near mashed potatoes. Some of that happens but more often it is a smell that i just know goes with something even though i could not describe it. Sounds also make me feel certain physical symptoms. high pitched sounds with a deep undertone bring instant nausea that is almost unbearable. especially sounds like elevators that aren't loud but are in that range. i also feel sounds. When dogs bark i feel it in my arms. Lots of those types of things. Does this fall in line with Synesthesia? all of these things create types of photographic memory moments in my mind and always associate themselves with the same thing. things like blond hair smelling like melon or honeydew to me when i see it. but i'm not close enough to smell it. it's just that sight and smell go hand in hand for me. if these do fall into some category of Synesthesia i'd love to have some input. i've not found much information on it. Any information would be helpful. i love that my mind and senses work this way together.