Synaesthesia is a confusion of the senses, whereby stimulation of one sense triggers stimulation in a completely different sensory modality. A synaesthete might claim to be able to hear colors, taste shapes, describe the color, shape, and flavor of someone's voice or music, the sound of which looks like 'shards of glass'. Throughout history, many notable artists and writers have claimed to suffer from synaesthesia, including, Arthur Rimbaud, Wassily Kandinsky, Vladimir Nabokov, and David Hockney. The condition remains as controversial now as when first brought to the public eye many years ago--one notable scientist dismissing it as mere 'romantic neurology.' In Synaesthesia: the strangest thing, a world authority on synaesthesia takes us on a fascinating tour of this mysterious condition, looking at historical incidences of synaesthesia, unraveling the theories for the condition, and additionally, examining the claims to synaesthesia of the likes of Rimbaud, Baudelaire, and others. The result is an exciting, yet scientific account of an incredible condition--one that will tell us of a world rich with the most unbelievable sensory experiences.

Synaesthesia is a fascinating cognitive phenomenon where one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another. For example, synaesthetes might perceive colours when listening to music, or tastes in the mouth when reading words. This book provides an insight into the idiosyncratic nature of synaesthesia by exploring its relationships with other dimensions of individual differences. Many characteristics of linguistic-colour synaesthetes are covered including personality, temperament, intelligence, creativity, emotionality, attention, memory, imagination, colour perception, body lateralization and gender. Aleksandra Maria Rogowska proposes that linguistic-colour synaesthesia can be considered as an abstract form of a continuous variable in the broader context of cross- and intra-modal associations. There has been a resurgence of interest in synaesthesia and this book will appeal to students and scientists of psychology, cognitive science and social science, and to those who are fascinated by unusual states of mind.

Synaesthesia is a condition in which a stimulus elicits an additional subjective experience. For example, the letter E printed in black (the inducer) may trigger an additional colour experience as a concurrent (e.g., blue). Synaesthesia tends to run in families and thus, a genetic component is likely. However, given that the stimuli that typically induce synaesthesia are cultural artefacts, a learning component must also be involved. Moreover, there is evidence that synaesthetic experiences not only activate brain areas typically involved in processing sensory input of the concurrent modality; synaesthesia seems to cause a structural reorganisation of the brain. Attempts to train non-synaesthetes with synaesthetic associations have been successful in mimicking certain behavioural aspects and posthypnotic induction of synaesthetic experiences in non-synaesthetes has even led to the according phenomenological reports. These latter findings suggest that structural brain reorganization may not be a critical precondition, but rather a consequence of the sustained coupling of inducers and concurrents. Interestingly, synaesthetes seem to be able to easily transfer synaesthetic experiences to novel stimuli. Beyond this, certain drugs (e.g., LSD) can lead to synaesthesia-like experiences and may provide additional insights into the neurobiological basis of the condition. Furthermore, brain damage can both lead to a sudden presence of synaesthetic experiences in previously non-synaesthetic individuals and a sudden absence of synaesthesia in previously synaesthetic individuals. Moreover, enduring sensory substitution has been effective in inducing a kind of acquired synaesthesia. Besides informing us about the cognitive mechanisms of synaesthesia, synaesthesia research is relevant for more general questions, for example about consciousness such as the binding problem, about crossmodal correspondences and about how individual differences in perceiving and experiencing the world develop. Hence the aim of the current Research Topic is to provide novel insights into the development of synaesthesia both in its genuine and acquired form. We welcome novel experimental work and theoretical contributions (e.g., review and opinion articles) focussing on factors such as brain maturation, learning, training, hypnosis, drugs, sensory substitution and brain damage and their relation to the development of any form of synaesthesia.

Synaesthesia is a rare experience in which one property of a stimulus evokes a secondary experience that is not typically associated with the first (e.g. hearing words can evoke tastes). In recent years a number of studies have highlighted the authenticity of synaesthesia and attempted to use the experience to inform us about typical processes in perception and cognition. This Research Topic brings together research on synaesthesia and typical cross modal interactions to discuss the mechanisms of synaesthesia and what it can tell us about typical perceptual processes. Topics include, but are not limited to, the neurocognitive mechanisms that give rise to synaesthesia; the extent to which synaesthesia does / does not share commonalities with typical cross-modal correspondences; broader cognitive and perceptual consequences that are linked to synaesthesia; and perspectives on the origins / defining characteristics of synaesthesia.

In 1893 a Swiss neuroscientist called Theodore Flournoy conducted an interview with an individual known only as "Madame L", during which Madame L described the personalities of numbers, from 6, an orphaned young man, very well brought up and polite, to 9, the selfish and maniacal husband ofMadame 8, to the extravagant and self-centred 5. For Madame L it was impossible to contemplate the numbers without feeling their attendant personalities. This is one of the first records we have of synaesthesia, often described as a rare neurological condition that gives rise to a type of "mergingof the senses". For those who experience it - synaesthetes - one sense appears to cross with another. Some people experience the sensation of different flavours when they hear certain words, while others see vivid colours on reading words. In the varying forms of synaesthesia letters, numbers,words, sounds, colours, or textures can merge together, resulting in sensations of colourful chords, chicken that feels pointy when eaten, and beef that tastes dark blue.In this Very Short Introduction Julia Simner introduces the many different ways synaesthesia presents itself. Discussing the scientific tests we have developed for distinguishing true synaesthetes (who may not even be aware that their sensations are unusual), Simner considers how we can measure theeffects synaesthesia has on the everyday lives of people living with it. Exploring the fascinating stories of different individuals' experiences of the world through the many forms of synaesthesia, she discusses the increasingly documented links between synaesthesia and artistic creativity andlateral thinking, and also the potential limitations synaesthesia might impose. Delving into the neuroscience behind synaesthesia, Simner also relates contemporary attempts at understanding both the genetic causes of synaesthesia, and how synesthetic sensations occur in the brain.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, andenthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Synaesthesia: Theoretical, artistic and scientific foundations Editorial Board Sean A. Day (Trident Technical College, USA. President of the American Synesthesia Association) Maria José De Córdoba (Granada University, Department of Drawing) Emilio G. Milán (Granada University, Department of Experimental Psychology) Ed Hubbard (Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology and Human Development) Dina Riccò (Politecnico di Milano University, Department of Design) Editorial Staff Edited by: Maria Josè De Cordoba, Dina Riccò, Sean Day The three editors have worked in collaboration on the entire book. In particular: M.J. De Cordoba has edited chapters I.2, I.4, I.5., II.2, II.6, II.7, II.8; D. Riccò chapters I.1, I.3, II.1, II.3, II.4, II.5; and Sean Day has edited the English revision of the whole book. Chapters written in native English by the respective authors: I.1, I.2, I.5, II.1. English translation from Spanish: Julia López de la Torre Lucha (Foreword, Preface, chapters I.4, II.2, II.7, II.8); Donald Hubert Duffy III (chapter II.5). English Translation from Italian: Margaret Wood / Intras Congressi Bologna (chapters I.6, II.4), Peter Deville (chapter I.3), John Lander, Annarita Guidi and Maria Catricalà (chapter II.3). English Translation from Russian: Anton V. Sidoroff-Dorso (Chapter II.6). Special thanks to Timothy B. Layden. Graphic coordination: Dina Riccò Graphic design: Giulia Martimucci Visual: Alessandro Zamperini © 2014 Ediciones Fundación Internacional ArteCittà, Granada (Spain) Original Title: Sinestesia. Los fundamentos teóricos, artísticos y científicos, by Maria José De Cordoba, Dina Riccò et al. First Spanish Edition published in 2012 by Ediciones Fundación Internacional Artecittà (Granada, Spain) eBook Edition ISBN: 978-84-939054-9-1 D.L.: GR 1383-2014 (14.07.2014) Produced by Fundación Internacional Artecittà, Granada, Spain Printed Edition ISBN: 978-84-939054-6-0 D.L.: GR 1382-2014 (14.07.2014) Printing: Imprenta Del Carmen, Granada, Spain First English Edition: July 2014

One interesting aspect of vision is the occasional borderline overlap between contrasting sensory perceptions. For instance, we often find transmodal bridges, transitions and interactions between vision and hearing – a perceptual phenomenon known as synaesthesia. Synaesthesia may evoke certain qualities and meanings, simultaneously or in succession: Some humans may see a colour while hearing a particular word; others may hear a specific tone when viewing the colour blue, a plethera of other combinatorial sensory assocations also exist. Synaesthesia resembles this transfer of sensoric qualities and meanings within perceptual modalities of art, music and poetry. Neuroscientific visual imaging has posited certain areas in the brain where this rare mixing of senses may take place. Sound symbolisms and synaesthetic comparisons are widespread throughout literature. Several sensory modalities share qualities such as intensity, brightness or acoustically associated meanings. In this way, methaphors can be relatively freely transmitted between the senses. The Romantic poets interpreted synaesthetic perceptions as borderlines of the senses and described them as transitions between the single faculties of art. They were evidently very interested in these associations. This was different from the reflections of poets of the 18th century, who were interested in the diversities of the faculties of art such as painting, music, poetry. Synaesthesia happens through synchronous combination and concatenation of one sense modality with several other sense modi. This essay proceeds in six steps: It shows how the cooperation of synaesthetic qualia with hidden and multiple meanings has always played a major role for the inner qualities of a picture of art.

Synaesthesia is a strange sensory blending: synaesthetes report experiences of colours or tastes associated with particular sounds or words. This volume presents new essays by scientists and philosophers exploring what such cases can tell us about the nature of perception and its boundaries with illusion and imagination.