Is it possible to see a taste? Or taste a word? The answer is yes, sort of.
What is聽synesthesia?
An involuntary neurological condition called synesthesia, which is also spelled synaesthesia, describes a version of this experience.Synesthesia is “a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color.”
A person who experiences聽蝉测苍别蝉迟丑别蝉颈补听is called a聽synesthete. The words derives from two Greek roots that mean 鈥渢ogether鈥� and 鈥渟ensation.鈥�
What are some types of synesthesia?
A common form of this condition has to do with letters and numbers. It is called color-graphemic synesthesia. This is how it works: A synesthete consistently聽“sees” letters or numbers as a specific color; the word聽tomorrow could evoke a bluish-green color, for example. For some, this perception happens in their mind鈥檚 eye, while for others, it is projected externally.
There are over sixty types of synesthesia and it seems to run in families (though only occurs in about 2鈥�4% percent of the population). Also, a number of聽external stimuli聽can cause the condition, such as blindness, a stroke, or鈥攏o surprise here鈥攑sychedelic drugs.
And, in聽one of聽the condition’s rarest聽forms, lexical-gustatory synesthesia, words can actually evoke tastes, seemingly making it possible to taste a word. The word hello, for instance, could taste like popcorn.
