School of Psychology

Synaesthesia Research Team

Team Members

• Dr Ashok Jansari
• Dr Mary Spiller

Introduction

Synaesthesia is a condition in which stimulation in one sensory modality (for example, taste) triggers an experience in another sensory modality (for example, touch) or when a sensation in one sensory modality triggers another sensation within the same modality (for example, seeing a letter induces a colour).

Some people have experienced synaesthesia for as long as they can remember, and these ‘synaesthetic experiences’ happen without any effort in normal everyday situations. For these people, it seems strange to think of a world without synaesthesia!

As we have different senses, there are many different types of synaesthesia. Some of the common types of synaesthesia include:

• Grapheme–colour synaesthesia: when words, letters or digits induce (trigger) colours.
• Taste–touch synaesthesia: when tastes induce sensations/feelings.
• Sound–colour synaesthesia: when sounds or musical notes induce colours.
• Word–taste synaesthesia: when words/names induce tastes.

More common types of synaesthesia can also be found in some people for whom letters and numbers can even have personalities or genders. Others have vivid spatial layouts in physical or mental space for numbers, letters in the alphabet, months of the year, etc.

Ten things to know about synaesthesia

1. The word “synaesthesia” comes from the Greek words “syn”, meaning together and “aethesia” meaning sensation.
2. It is relatively rare: it is thought that around one person in every 100 or 200 has a form of synaesthesia.
3. Synaesthesia is not an impairment or medical condition: many people with synaesthesia say that it actually helps them in everyday situations, such as for remembering things or helping them to be more creative.
4. Synaesthetic experiences are generally consistent over time, so if Monday is red for someone then it is always red for that person.
5. Synaesthetic experiences are said to be “idiosyncratic”: they vary from person to person. So while for one person the word February might be lilac in colour, for another person February could be dark green.
6. Often people with synaesthesia have more than one form: for example, someone may have coloured words (grapheme–colour synaesthesia) and also have a three-dimensional layout for months of the year.
7. Synaesthesia is often found to run in families: it is thought that it might have a genetic basis and research is currently being conducted to explore this.
8. People who experience synaesthesia are referred to as “synaesthetes”.
9. Synaesthesia that someone has had for as long as they can remember is referred to as “developmental synaesthesia”.
10. Synaesthesia can also occur as a result of brain injury, during meditation or through the use of some drugs. These types of synaesthesia are referred to as “acquired synaesthesia”.

Why is synaesthesia interesting to study?

Synaesthesia is of interest to many researchers within psychology, cognitive neuroscience, the arts, genetics, child development and more. By studying synaesthesia, we are able to find out more about the different ways we all experience sights, sounds, tastes, smells, etc. We can learn about sensory perception, cross-modal sensory experiences, brain development, consciousness and much more.

What research are we doing at the moment?

We are interested in many aspects of synaesthesia within the Research Team here at UEL.

Areas of synaesthesia we are particularly interested in at the moment are:

• Mental imagery and synaesthesia.
• Synaesthesia in different languages (for example, whether synaesthesia experienced with the Roman alphabet is different in the Hebrew alphabet for someone who is bilingual in the two languages).
• Taste–tone synaesthesia and taste–tone associations in the non-synaesthete population.

What influence does synaesthesia have on someone’s life?

Creativity: some people suggest that people with synaesthesia are more creative. An example of someone using their synaesthetic experiences in their artwork is the artist Jane Mackay. Jane uses the images that she sees in her mind’s eye when hearing musical sounds in her artwork. To find out more about Jane’s work, visit her website.

Examples of Jane Mackay’s paintings

A list of some famous artists, novelists, musicians and poets who have synaesthesia or use synaesthesia in their work is given below.

What do synaesthetes say about their synaesthesia?

How can I find out if I have synaesthesia?

As synaesthesia is not a medical condition there is no medical diagnosis. If you consistently experience an additional sensation at the same time as you see/hear/smell/taste or touch something, then you most probably have a form of synaesthesia. This is especially so if it always happens in everyday situations and with no extra effort on your behalf. These synaesthetic experiences can be very strong or quite mild, and they can appear as if they are happening outside of your body or within your ‘mind’s eye’.

For research purposes we need to know that when someone says they experience synaesthesia that what they say is ‘true’. It isn’t that we don’t believe people, but we need to be able to show other researchers that the people involved in our research have indeed got synaesthesia. We therefore try to measure your synaesthesia, and this can be done with a paper and pen questionnaire or a computerised test.

How can I be involved in synaesthesia research?

We are always looking for synaesthetes and people without synaesthesia to take part in our research. If you are interested in finding out more about the research we are doing at the moment, or would like to volunteer, please contact us: our contact details are give at the bottom of this page.

Famous people with synaesthesia

Many people in the arts and literature world have said that they have synaesthesia, or we think they may have had synaesthesia, based on their writings.

• The artist Kandinsky is thought by some to have been a synaesthete.
• Famous writers who wrote about their own personal synaesthesia included Nabokov.
• Musicians who used synaesthesia in their work include Duke Ellington, Franz Liszt and Olivier Messiaen.
• Artist David Hockney is a synaesthete, but only used his synaesthetic experiences in his stage set paintings, not his other work.
• Pharrell Williams, the hip-hop producer and musician, has spoken about his music–colour synaesthesia.

Where can I find out more about synaesthesia?

There are many websites, articles and books about synaesthesia. We have listed a few below, but there are many more out there.

Recent publications from the Synaesthesia Research Team

1. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2008). Mental imagery and synaesthesia: is synaesthesia from internally generated stimuli possible? Cognition, 109, 143–151.
2. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (in press). Mental imagery and synaesthesia: is synaesthesia from internally generated stimuli possible? Cognition.
3. Jansari, A. S., Spiller, M. J., & Redfern, S. (2006). Number synaesthesia: when hearing “four plus five” looks like gold. Cortex, 42(2), 253-258.
4. Spiller, M. J. (2006). Synaesthesia: more than a mere curiosity. Cortex, 42(3), 450-456.
5. Simner, J., Ward, J., Lanz, M., Jansari, A. S., Nooman, K., Glover, L., et al. (2005). Non-random associations of graphemes to colours in synaesthetic and non-synaesthetic populations. Cognition, 22, 1-17.

Links to other sites

• American Synesthesia Association
• Belgian Synesthesia Association
• Synesthesia List
• UCL group
• UK Synaesthesia Association
• Waterloo, Canada group

Please contact us

Please contact us using the details below if you would like to do any of the following.

• Discover whether you have synaesthesia.
• Find out more about synaesthesia research.
• Be involved in our research here at UEL.
• Learn more about the nature of synaesthetic experiences.
• Know further details about our recent publications and conference presentations.

Our contact details

Synaesthesia Research Team
FAO Mary Spiller
School of Psychology
The University of East London
Stratford Campus
Water Lane
London E14 5LZ
United Kingdom

Email: m.j.spiller@uel.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 8223 4004
Fax: +44 (0)20 8223 4937

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