What Color is A?

Reported January 2007

WATERLOO, Ontario (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- What does yellow taste like? What color is the letter M? Not usual questions you hear, but some people's senses are actually joined together. It's called synesthesia. For years, synesthesia was dismissed as the product of someone's overactive imagination. But in the past decade, researchers have documented hundreds of cases of otherwise normal people ... Who have these extraordinary blended senses.

Daniel Eaton's grade school artwork is filled with bright colors. But page after page, the numbers and letters are colored consistently the same way. Fifteen years later, Eaton still sees each of his letters in very specific colors. What we see in black and white automatically "pops" off his page.

"It's kinda like trying to ignore, I don't know, someone in a really loud shirt in front of you. It just draws your attention," Eaton says.

At the synesthesia research group in Waterloo, Canada, cognitive neuroscientists study how synesthetes process the world around them. Researchers have many different theories about the cause of synesthesia, but there is a neurological basis.

"Synesthetes' brains are different, and things like functional magnetic resonance imaging can demonstrate that," Mike Dixon, Ph.D., a behavioral neuroscientist at University of Waterloo, tells Ivanhoe.

In a British study, the MRIs were conducted on both synesthetes and non-synesthetes. When a researcher called out numbers, the region of the brain that recognizes color was activated in synesthetes. In non-synesthetes, the area that processes color did not respond.

Dr. Dixon says synesthesia is not in any way harmful. In fact, for some, there are clear benefits.

Jason Korzenko has what's called time-space synesthesia. Dates pop up on a 3-D oval in front of him. Korzenko never forgets a birthday, anniversary ... or a class project.

"I think it's a gift," Korzenko says.

Dr. Dixon says, "Synesthetes do hold keys to how you and I experience the world." ...And unlock some of the mysteries of the human brain.

Researchers are unsure how rare synesthesia is. Some say as many as one in 2,000 experiences it, and other studies say it might occur as frequently as one in 200. Most researchers believe synesthetes are born with the joined senses and say it can run in families.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Daniel Smilek, Ph.D.
Cognitive Neuroscientist
Dept. of Psychology
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
(519) 888-4567 ext. 5365
dsmilek@watarts.uwaterloo.ca

A new way to rank snowstorms gets the word out fast on what to expect after the snow falls.

Biochemists can now diagnose, treat, and develop vaccines against new strains of flu faster than ever before.

What if cars could pick up signals that could save your life ... know when there's been an accident ... know when it's safe to turn? Smart cars are closer than you think.

During the winter, we crank up the heat ... During the summer, we turn up the AC. We're eating up electricity, but now a new smart meter may save energy and money.

Pesticides hurt the environment and our health. But a new bug zapper doesn't use any harmful chemicals.

Airports may one day have an improved security system thanks to a new material that makes fingerprints nearly impossible to forge.

What does yellow taste like? Some people have joined senses -- a phenomenon called synesthesia.

Planning cancer treatment is tough for doctors because they have to look at stagnant images and visualize exactly where a tumor is located. Now, a 3-D "dome" gives them a better view.

Laser eye surgery leaves many patients with near-perfect vision. Now, doctors have upgraded LASIK surgery -- making it even better.

A small piece of bacteria found from the space shuttle Columbia could give new clues about where human life began.

We all know what we look like on the outside, but what about inside our bodies? New, detailed images create a virtual view of the human body -- from the inside, out.

Building Better Homes: Homes are made to withstand the test of time. But the ultimate test is one that can survive an earthquake. See how simulating an earthquake helps improve homes in real quake zones.