Synesthesia: Can People Hear Colours?

The answer is “Yes!” Some people can hear colours due to a neurological condition. This situation is known as “Synesthesia.” Chromesthesia is a common type and it allows people to involuntarily associate sounds with colours. You can imagine it like when you hear music or a specific sound, you may perceive a particular colour, shape or movement alongside it.

Approximately, 4% of the population experiences some form of synesthesia. The phenomenon is believed to arise from increased connectivity between sensory regions in the brain, leading to a blending of sensory experiences. Scientists still do not know the exact cause of synesthesia but they assume that it often runs in families through genes.

These unknown conditions of synesthesia can significantly influence people's daily life. For example, people who have synesthesia experience automatic and involuntary perceptions. People can see colour when hearing music or associate flavours with specific words. These kinds of experiences are often predictable. On the other hand, these people have enhanced memory and creativity. This can aid in tasks like memorizing names or performing mental arithmetic. They can also utilize their abilities to enhance learning.

However, there is also a negative side to this condition, which people can experience sensory overload or distractions in environments with multiple stimuli. Their daily life activities can become complicated and they may feel distracted. Some of the synesthetes can feel alienated. Because they have an unbelievable and unique experience. It causes their friend and family to not understand or believe them which can lead them to feel confused and ridiculed. The scepticism or disbelief from others leads synesthetes to become introverted and afraid of sharing their experiences.

Imagine yourself having synesthesia which is a condition where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second pathway. How could your life evolve into? How would your daily life and relationships change? What would you do if you had this neurological condition? There are a lot of questions waiting to be answered but we all can guess that Seeing colours when listening to music, smelling shapes, or tasting words would change our life from the bottom to the top.