Woolhouse's View Of The Syneesthetic Experience

I remember the first time I heard about synesthesia, I was so disappointed that I did not able to experience this phenomenon. I was immediately intrigued, confused, and dead-set on finding out more. Can you imagine being able to feel a sound? Or being able to taste a vision? Synesthesia refers to a special sort of sensory experience that combines a specific sensation with something else, in short it means to “perceive together” (Grossenbacher). This marvel has been known for at least 200 years, the first written descriptions were provided by Locke in 1690 and Woolhouse provided the first medically documented occurrence twenty years later (Cytowic, 1994). To gain a view for the synesthetic experience, reflect on the following excerpts (taken

Michael continued, “The shape changes with each moment, just as the flavor does… French cooking is my favorite precisely because it makes the shapes change in fabulous ways.”

The name Paul is such an ugly color, it’s gray and ugly. I told her, “Name the baby anything but Paul.” She couldn’t understand why, and I said, “It’s such an awful color, that name Paul.” She thought I was out of my mind.

A synesthete’s experience is unsolicited and outside their domain of cognizant control. Some will “hear, smell, taste or feel pain in color. Others taste shapes, and still others perceive written digits, letters and words in color”, furthermore, many synesthetes experience more than one form of the condition (Carpenter 2001).

In this paper, I will address what is known about this extraordinary condition; explore what recent research has uncovered regarding the topic and touch upon the discussion regarding the origin of synesthesia. The reader should emerge with a basic understanding of this subject, knowledge of current synesthesia research, and familiarity with the debate surrounding the cause of this condition.

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