Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses

by Richard E. Cytowic, Hinderk M. Emrich (Afterword)

For decades, scientists who heard about synesthesia hearing colors, tasting words, seeing colored pain just shrugged their shoulders or rolled their eyes. Now, as irrefutable evidence mounts that some healthy brains really do this, we are forced to ask how this squares with some cherished conceptions of neuroscience. These include binding, modularity, functionalism, blindsight, and consciousness. The good news is that when old theoretical structures fall, new light may flood in. Far from a mere curiosity, synesthesia illuminates a wide swath of mental life.In this classic text, Richard Cytowic quickly disposes of earlier criticisms that the phenomenon cannot be "real," demonstrating that it is indeed brain-based. Following a historical introduction, he lays out the phenomenology of synesthesia in detail and gives criteria for clinical diagnosis and an objective "test of genuineness." He reviews theories and experimental procedures to localize the plausible level of the neuraxis at which synesthesia operates. In a discussion of brain development and neural plasticity, he addresses the possible ubiquity of neonatal synesthesia, the construction of metaphor, and whether everyone is unconsciously synesthetic. In the closing chapters, Cytowic considers synesthetes' personalities, the apparent frequency of the trait among artists, and the subjective and illusory nature of what we take to be objective reality, particularly in the visual realm.The second edition has been extensively revised, reflecting the recent flood of interest in synesthesia and new knowledge of human brain function and development. More than two-thirds of the material is new.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Neuroscience, Psychology, Audiobook

394 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 1989

About the author

Richard E. Cytowic, MD, MFA is a neurologist best know for bringing synesthesia back into the scientific mainstream in 1980. The trait of crossed senses is now seen as important to understanding how brains perceive.

Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia (with David Eagleman) won the 2011 Montaigne Medal.

Cytowic also writes non-fiction and fiction, and received his MFA in creative writing from American University. The Pulitzer nominee's work has appeared in The Washingtonian, New Scientist, and the New York Times Magazine.

His Blog at Psychology Today is The Fallible Mind: Emotion, perception, and other tricks of the brain

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was insufficient. Wonderful, but insufficient.

Its insufficiency arises from the inherent mystery of synesthesia. There is something deeper going on. Meaning, at the present moment there are great unknowns here as to what this peculiar neurological pattern is, how it works, and what its various manifestations are. No it does not simply boil down to 'cross-tanging of sensations'.
Cytowic did a wonderful job weaving together pieces of information, and in many ways, in writing this book, he may lead to studies that may very well aid to the understanding of not only how synesthesia works, but consciousness as a whole. This 'sensorium', which we refer to our conscious reality is not yet well understood physiologically. Synesthesia, an aberration of the typical neuroanatomy, is therefore quite useful to learn about.

This was a wonderful book and I highly advocate that anyone with a burning passionate desire for neuroscience read. I am quite excited to see where the study of synesthesia goes in the upcoming years. My eyes are open for future studies, thoughts and research!

[Joe Upshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been interested in cognition and perception. I have a few synesthetic quirks myself and so, was interested in learning more.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and fascinating exploration of Synesthesia. As someone who experiences Synesthesia it is fabulous to discover that  there is an actual word for people like me - I am a Synesthete - and that this bizarre crossover of senses has actually been studied at depth. So many things make sense to me now - how validating! 


I'm sure other Synesthetes will enjoy this book and non-synesthetes will probably be fascinated to know this is a thing. 


In terms of writing style, this is heavier on scientific terminology and academic psychology than a pop science title so it can be a little dry in places. But overall, it is very thorough and full of interesting examples so I highly recommend it.

[Hind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice overview of what we know about synesthesia

[Victor Zatsepin · Rating 4 out of 5]

познавательная книга про "союзы чувств". помимо Набокова, Равеля и Эйзенштейна есть еще множество обыкновенных людей с необыкновенным чувственным опытом - примерно 100 из них опрошены в этой книге - у кого-то музыка окрашена цветом, у кого-то буквы - запахами u.s.w. в том числе есть, например, мужик, у которого вкусовые рецепторы связаны с осязанием (i.e. ест индейку и ему кажется при этом, что он держит в руке шар - а блюдо удалось настолько, насколько совершенна форма шара и т.д.)

много медицинской статистики и забористых сведений про мозги, которые пришлось пролистывать

зато дико интересно насчет того, что исследования синестезии традиционная медицина считает эзотерикой - с одной стороны, опрошенные только и могут, что рассказывать о своих чувствах, так что это может быть всего лишь частный случай невроза. с другой стороны, различные прикладные методики (исследование наследственности, измерение и сравнение разл. показателей у опрошенных) дают очень мало материала, чтобы хотя б начать говорить об общих закономерностях (снова опт против розницы, твердые научные данные против уникального личного опыта и т.д.)

основная гипотеза автора в том, что у синестетиков в раннем детстве не завершился процесс разделения чувств (ср. у Джеймса - the baby's impression of the world “as one great blooming, buzzing confusion”), здорово читать параллельно с "Синхронизацией чувств" Эйзенштейна (Неравнодушная природа, т.1)