Synesthesia
Summary
When Elizabeth hears music, she can see it and taste it too. Whenever she hears a note, she sees a unique color, be it the chime of a bell, chirping of birds or even a dog barking on the street. The head of neuropsychology at the University of Zurich, tracked Elizabeth and began testing her. He had a suspicion that she might have something called Synesthesia. Synesthesia is a rare neurological condition that leads to joining of senses. This fusing of senses gives Elizabeth a big advantage as she has an astounding memory. The researcher concluded that Elizabeth was a synaesthete. There are less than 1000 synaesthetes in the world that can see color with tone and fewer than 500 who have taste with tone. Elizabeth is the only person in the world who can combine all three of them. When her brain was scanned, her brain was found hard wired like no one else’s. It had specific connections between the color areas, the taste areas and the auditory areas. These neural pathways connecting sight, sound and taste appeared to be surging with activity. These are connections that are usually dormant in average people. Dr. Jamie Ward of the department of psychology at the University College London, tested her and discovered Elizabeth's abilities as far more advanced than any one had imagined. Elizabeth has been found to have extraordinary abilities, pertaining to her capabilities of memory retention.
Related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvwTSEwVBfc
Keywords: Synesthesia, Synaesthete, senses, color, taste, auditory, hearing, tone, psychology, Dr. Jamie Ward, neurological condition, memory retention, neural pathways
