While synesthesia is rare in the general population, it's not uncommon to see it in artists, such as Lorde. In fact, children often learn about color categorization between the ages of 4 and 7, the same time that they begin to read and write, Live Science reported in an earlier piece. For example, when young children learn the alphabet, letters are often presented in different colors. Or perhaps childhood learning paradigms can explain the condition's genesis, some researchers have said. It's possible that these anomalous, crisscrossing connections cause a tangling and pairing of certain senses, Thomas Palmeri, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, wrote in Scientific American. In some cases, it develops after people use drugs or experience brain damage or sensory deprivation, but recent work looking at the brains of people with naturally occurring synesthesia suggests that they have an increased number of connections among their brain's sensory regions, Live Science reported previously. There are more than 60 types of synesthesia, but the more common diagnoses include chromesthesia (perceiving colors after hearing certain sounds), lexical-gustatory synesthesia (perceiving certain tastes after hearing particular words) and spatial-sequence synesthesia (visualizing numbers, such as dates and times, as points in space for instance, 2000 may appear farther back physically than 2010), Live Science reported previously.Įxactly how the condition works is still a mystery. įor instance, in a 2015 Q&A with Tumblr, Lorde said the 2013 song "Tennis Court" from her first album was originally too tan, but she eventually turned it a better color (green) after working on its pre-chorus, according to New Musical Express, a British music magazine. "It's about getting the actual thing to sound like what I've been seeing," she said. As she works on a piece, she strives to fill in the best hues as the musical image evolves into a concrete creation, she told the Times. "From the moment I start something, I can see the finished song, even if it's far-off and foggy," Lorde recently told The New York Times.
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The New Zealand native's next album, "Melodrama," is expected to be released in June, and she said each song is a creation of her imagination, synesthesia and collaborators. In Lorde's case, sound-to-color synesthesia means that she sees specific colors when certain notes are played.
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If it comes on suddenly in adulthood, see your doctor immediately for an assessment because it could be related to a problem with your brain / nervous system.Between 1 percent and 4 percent of people have synesthesia, a condition in which different senses are mixed, according to a 2011 study published in the journal PLOS Biology. Synesthesia is usually present from birth, so developing it as an adult is extremely rare.Head trauma, post-concussion syndrome, brain tumors, brain infections, migraine headaches, seizures with auras, epilepsy, cerebral stroke, toxic reactions, LSD "flashbacks" and experimentation with hallucinogens (peyote, mushrooms) can all produce sensory phenomena similar to synesthesia.
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X Research source If you have a neurological deficit that's causing visual sensations, then you're very unlikely to also have synesthesia. Keep in mind that people with synesthesia typically pass all standard neurological exams and are considered normal in that way. If they believe that it is something serious, they might refer you to a neurologist. They will check the functioning of your brain, reflexes, and senses to see if you have any physical problems or deficits. Because the sensations of synesthesia can mimic certain medical conditions and head injuries, it's a good idea to see your doctor to rule out anything serious.