Can You Hear Colours, Synesthesia Explained
For a small percentage of people, hearing colours is an actual perception. It is called Chromesthesia which is a form of Synesthesia.
Many sights, smells and sounds naturally evoke memories, some good, some bad, synesthesia is different. This is a phenomen in which stimulation of one sense such as your sight, hearing or smell involuntarily and automatically creates an experience percieved by another of your senses. For example being able to feel spices, certain words producing particular smells or tasting different shapes.
Chromesthesia is a form of this phenomenon. Everyday environmental sounds can trigger the ability to see flashes of different colours. The volume, length and chacteristic of the sound can alter the brightness, duration and movement of the colour perceived. Hearing colours is one of the most common occurances of Synesthesia.
American Neurologist and Author, Richard E Cytowic describes Chromesthesia as "something like fireworks". He has spent many years delving deeper into the world of Synthesthesia. Two books inparticular which are worth taking a look at are Wednesday is Indigo Blue and the Man who Tasted Shapes.
The idea of synthesia can be one to get your head around if you do not experience it yourself. Colours are used by song writers as a decriptive manner to portray emotion. From the song "Yellow" by Coldplay to "Blue Da Ba Dee" by Eiffel 65. Do these sounds make you visualise Yellow or Blue?
Are colours heard by someone with synthesia related to emotion? An interesting interview in Vogue Magazine written with Jack Coulter, a young artist who is a synthetes and his synesthesia is portrayed in his artwork with intense explosions of colour. For a mind blowing look at how Jack experienced a live performance of Mendelssohn by the London Chamber Orchestra check out his instragram account and Vogue aricle below.
It has not been fully understood how people develop such abilities, it has been discovered that it does run in families and that it an actual biological phenomenon as MRI scans reveal activity in connected areas of the brain such as sight and hearing of people with Synthesia. What it also tells us is that how our brains function in many levels is still a mystery.
Further Reading:
https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/meet-jack-coulter-the-synaesthesia-artist-painting-mendelssohn