We typically interview adult synesthetes. However, you don’t have to be an adult to have synesthesia. In fact, most adult synesthetes began having synesthetic experiences at a young age. Julia Simner and her colleagues estimate that in the United States there are over 930,000 child synesthetes age 0-17. That averages to around 5 children per primary school (Simner et al. 2009).How can we determine whether or not the children in our lives have synesthesia? Synesthesia in adults is often measured by testing the consistency of cross-modal perceptions over a long period of time. Researchers must track the experiences of individuals to determine if their synesthesia is genuine. Basically, each synesthetic experience has a specific triggering stimulus and a specific resulting experience. If an adult has a form of synesthesia, certain stimuli will consistently trigger the same experience. For example, a grapheme-color synesthete might always see green 7s. If you think that a child you know has synesthesia, you can start tracking their experiences in a similar way. If the child consistently responds to a specific stimulus with a specific resulting synesthetic experience, it’s possible that she is a synesthete. Also, there are several studies that suggest a genetic mode of inheritance of synesthesia. So, if you’re a synesthete it’s possible that your children are synesthetes too. Several adult synesthetes report that when they were children they did not realize that something was different about the way that they experienced the world. A child grapheme-color synesthete might think that everyone sees red 5s. When a child recognizes that they are unusual, they may be hesitant to discuss their experiences because they do not want to risk being accused of lying or being negatively labeled by their peers. There are several reported cases of adults losing their synesthesia as they age. It’s important to nurture a child’s synesthetic ability.(Julia Simner, Jenny Harrold, Harriet Creed, Louise Monro and Louise Foulkes. (2009). “Early detection of markers for synaesthesia in childhood populations.” Brain: A Journal of Neurology. 132;...

James Wannerton is the President of the UK Synesthesia Association. In this post, I continued an interview with him, specifically addressing about the UK Synesthesia Association.  What are the goals of the UK Synesthesia Association and what is your role as President? The UKSA was the world’s first association aimed specifically at and for the burgeoning synaesthesia community. Conceived in 1989 by pioneering synaesthesia researchers Professor Simon Baron-Cohen and John Harrison at Cambridge University, its initial purpose was to provide a starting point for researchers to discuss and exchange information and ideas and also to connect together researchers and new subjects for study. Under its present guise the UK Synaesthesia Association has expanded with demand as interest in synaesthesia has grown and it is now an available first stop for information and further contact regarding all things synaesthetic. Our goals include continuing to disseminate accurate and reliable information to all who ask and to actively encourage the study of synaesthesia in schools, Universities and specialist research centers as well as increasing our support for independent public arts projects involving synaesthesia. Has the UKSA been successful in encouraging synesthesia in elementary or high schools? The UK Synaesthesia Association is very proactive in its efforts to bring synaesthesia to the attention of those who work within the education system. We do this by providing updates on any relevant research findings to sources such as the Times Educational Supplement (TES)—a publication network aimed at teachers from all over the world. We also provide information to schools on any available documentary material across all media platforms and when requested, can supplement such material with personal appearances in order to introduce the why’s and wherefore’s of synaesthesia in situ for schoolchildren of all ages. This is certainly a very rewarding and efficient method of getting the correct message across and, presented in the right format and context, often produces an entertaining and memorable lesson that will long be remembered. I often hear back from students who have sat through one of these presentations dating back over the last seven years. It’s an approach that has produced a lot of positive results in terms of general awareness and understanding. One of our longer term aims is to establish a firm link between UKSA and other synaesthesia associations from across the world in order for us to work together to share information and knowledge and to hopefully create a truly international community. My role as President requires me to keep up to speed with the latest synaesthesia research and to be available as a point of contact for enquiries from academics, researchers, artists, writers, musicians, journalists and most importantly, synaesthetes themselves. I help set up and organize annual...

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer born in 1872. His symphonies and other collected works are known for their adventurous experimentation in tonal and atonal musical systems, which greatly influenced future musical giants like Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky. He was an avid reader of philosophy, and used his music as an outlet to express his philosophical dispositions. One of these dispositions held a particular uniqueness above the rest, for Scriabin wrote his music in accordance to color associations. It is broadly accepted that Scriabin possessed a form of synesthesia known as chromesthesia (the cross sensual experience of color associations in response to musical sounds), which profoundly influenced his creative output. Scriabin even went as far as to create a color wheel in association to the circle of fifths in music theory to serve as a reference tool for understanding the synesthetic aspects of his compositions. However, it wasn’t just the association of music and color that intrigued Scriabin. He was infatuated with the totality of cross-modalities in sensual experience, writing (but never performing) his magnum opusMysterium, which was to be a week long show case that combined dance, scent, music, and light. Another, no less ambitious work, Scriabin composed was a symphony known as Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, op. 60. The piece called for the use of an instrument called the clavier a lumieres (color organ) that generated colors rather than sounds in response to key strokes and chords on a keyboard. However, due to technical limitations in the early 20th century, Scriabin himself never conducted the piece with the color accompaniment. The piece has only been attempted a few times with limited colored lighting, but none of the performances executed the lighting in accordance to Scriabin’s full color-music system. It seemed that the symphony was doomed to never being fully actualized, until a doctoral candidate at the Yale music school named Ann Gawboy took on the undertaking in 2010. Below is a video documentary of the behind scenes to Ann Gawboy’s and the Yale Symphony Orchestra’s 2010 performance of Scriabin’s symphony Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, op. 60 in accordance to Scriabin’s full colored vision for the piece. The performance is spectacular. Click here to read a journal article concerning Ann Gawboy’s research on...

by Paul Maguire This past weekend, I was able to interview artist Rebecca Haas. Rebecca does not have synesthesia. In fact, she has only known about synesthesia for the past year or so. Nonetheless, the condition has inspired her upcoming series, titled “Synesthesia,” opening on Wednesday, October 3, 4:00-7:00 p.m. at Gallery Visio, located on the bottom floor of the Millennium Student Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). You can view this series through November 14. For more information, please visit the links below. When did you decide to become an artist? There wasn’t a defining moment. I’ve been interested in art since I was a small child. What is your favorite medium? I’ve never understood when someone asks me what my favorite anything is. I’ve never even had a favorite color. When I was a child and someone asked me what my favorite color was I felt annoyed by the question, but felt I had to answer it. I often said “clear or iridescent or black.” It was the only way I knew how to rebel against the question. There’s too many great colors to single out one just as there are too many great mediums. Currently, the medium I use the most is photography. Yet, I also have been doing a lot of mixed media installations. What drew you to the visual arts? I honestly can’t say. Again, it’s really been something that has always been there for as long as I can remember. Yet, I can say what kept my interest. My mom always encouraged me along with my art teachers. I’ve also certainly been inspired by many artist. Who are some of the artists that inspire you? The first artist that I can really remember standing out to me was Escher. Some other artists and photographers that I admire are Kathe Kollwitz, Judy Chicago, Salvador Dali, Annie Leibovitz and Sandy Skoglund. I’m drawn to design and surrealism. You have an art opening coming up at Gallery Visio. Can you tell us a little bit about it? My series is my artistic interpretation of [synesthesia] and inspired by some surrealist concepts. It’s a monochromatic photography series which combines art installations and live art. I’ve carefully thought out the food and music along with many other elements. It combines all of the senses. The images are odd and dreamlike. Some came from dreams, but most images appear to me during the first stage of sleep, somewhere in between my conscious and unconscious mind. I am intrigued with the mind and how individuals perceive colors, texture, depth and art in general. I have worked with children with autism and adults with developmental disabilities, and have created...