Synesthesia is a condition involving the involuntary and simultaneous experience of a sense caused by the activation of another sense. For example, when someone with synesthesia hears a certain sound, he or she may immediately see a specific color, such as orange. Synesthesia is involuntary, meaning the individual cannot control the activation of another sense. According to the American Psychological Association, synesthesia comes in many forms. Some synesthetes (the term for individuals with the condition) hear, smell, taste, or even feel pain in color. Others can taste shapes or perceive words and sentences as colors. One synesthete described seeing a cloud of dark blue in his visual field when eating chicken and a cloud of orange when eating potatoes. In preparing a meal, this individual must not only focus on flavors that are appetizing, but he also has to make sure the color combination is appetizing. In fact, he confesses to eating chicken with ice cream, because together, they make a very appealing light-blue cloud (Child, 2009). Although researchers have yet to determine the cause of synesthesia, we do know that it has a genetic component (it runs in families), it is more likely to occur in left-handed individuals, and it occurs more often in women than men.

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8