An interesting neuropsychological phenomena in which the senses are not separate and, as an example one may associate the letters of the alphabet with colours, or see numbers and associate that with colours. There is any number of combinations. Authors such as Ramachandran have hypothesised that these remarkable experiences may be the result of cross-wiring. Perhaps cross-wiring between the V4 or the fusiform gyrus which is responsible for recognising colours and and the angular gyrus might be responsible for seeing numbers and associating them with colours. For curiosity’s sake, I’ve included a link to a case featuring a touch-colour synaesthete (Simmer and Ludwig, 2011). In this case, EB, a 50-year-old woman, had a family history of synaesthesia. EB associates a unique colour depending on what she is touching. The authors of the study did a couple of experiments to assess consistency over time, and thus show that the reports made by EB were genuine. Image credits: KELLEPICS/pixabay
References: Julia Simner & Vera U. Ludwig (2012) The color of touch: A case of tactile–visual synaesthesia, Neurocase, 18:2, 167-180, DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2011.568503 Gross, R. ‘Sensory Processes’ in ‘Gross Psychology’(2015) (7ed)
This is such an interesting phenomenon! Thanks for sharing.
The closest thing to synaesthesia I've experienced is associating numbers with people's faces, but I'm pretty sure it's not a part of it. It's more so connected to how certain features resemble the look of a number. I wonder if anyone else does it too.
This is really interesting. Is this only related to colours? I'm sure I've read something about someone being able to taste different foods whilst listening to music. Is this a different thing or would this fall in this category?
@Daniel Sumner what a fascinating phenomena indeed.
i have a question Is synesthesia related to schizophrenia?
Oh, this phenomenon is called Synaesthesia. I didn't know that. But I have read about a case in which girl can feel colours while listening to music.