Curious Kids: Why do people with synaesthesia link senses, and how does it work?

By Julia Simner, Professor of neuropsychology, University of Sussex

Why do people with synaesthesia link senses, and how does it work? – Zenah, age 11, Bristol, UK

Look around you – what does the world feel like? Some of it – like the colours – feels like it’s coming in through your eyes. You can’t hear the colours, or smell them, right? You can see them.

Eyes are for seeing, ears are for hearing sounds, noses and mouths are for smelling and tasting, and your fingertips are for touching. But what would happen if you could hear with your eyes? Or see with your ears? This is what it means to have synaesthesia…

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