A case of synesthesia

The subject is a woman who was twenty years old and a college senior at the time of examination. She always experienced photisms whenever she was stimulated in either of the two sense departments. In all but two types of pain--cramp and numbness--the photisms have color in addition to a characteristic form; but in the audition photisms color never appears, only brightness. In the pain photisms there is movement of some kind. Some photisms are two-dimensional, whereas others are definitely three-dimensional. Movement is indicated in the audition photisms by the positions of the various elements, that is, the succeeding tones are always seen to the right of the preceding tones. Although these photisms vary as to form, size and brightness there are some marked similarities: higher tones are always seen as being above lower tones; all tones with the exception of that of the oboe bassoon are seen as two-dimensional bars or three-dimensional tubes. All photisms are a very intimate part of the subject's experience and, for her, are as vivid as actual perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Audiology · Cognitive psychology · Perception · Synesthesia · Color perception and design · Medicine · Multisensory perception and integration · Neuroscience · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology

• On colored-hearing synesthesia

  Lawrence E Marks•Psychological Bulletin•1975

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