Synesthesia and Perception

Synesthesia is an uncommon perceptual anomaly in humans where one stimulus creates more than one perceptions. There are many different types of synesthesia that range from Grapheme (color/ character), to Lexical gustatory(word/ taste). This 'disorder' of sorts is very interesting for perceptual philosophy for many reasons. It has many aspects of both cognitive science and philosophical inquiry. This cognitive phenomenon is not fully understood in terms of how it works by science. There are a few theories and the most commonly accepted one explains why it can be both inherited and it can also happen while on certain psychotropic drugs. This theory is about how the brain starts off with all the senses in one spot and they migrate to different spots. The wires sometimes get crossed and Psychotropic drugs along with genetics can mix wires in the brain up at times causing synesthesia.
This video from Michal Levy is an interesting depiction of an artistic remake of what it is like to have one type of synesthesia where music gives people a color sensation.
http://vimeo.com/8508477

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Philosophy of Perception

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