Synaesthesia: The Strangest Thing

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Oxford University Press, 2001 - 277 Seiten
Synaesthesia is a confusion of the senses, whereby stimulation of one sense triggers stimulation in a completely different sensory modality. A synaesthete might claim to be able to hear colors, taste shapes, describe the color, shape, and flavor of someone's voice or music, the sound of which looks like 'shards of glass'. Throughout history, many notable artists and writers have claimed to suffer from synaesthesia, including, Arthur Rimbaud, Wassily Kandinsky, Vladimir Nabokov, and David Hockney. The condition remains as controversial now as when first brought to the public eye many years ago--one notable scientist dismissing it as mere 'romantic neurology.' In Synaesthesia: the strangest thing, a world authority on synaesthesia takes us on a fascinating tour of this mysterious condition, looking at historical incidences of synaesthesia, unraveling the theories for the condition, and additionally, examining the claims to synaesthesia of the likes of Rimbaud, Baudelaire, and others. The result is an exciting, yet scientific account of an incredible condition--one that will tell us of a world rich with the most unbelievable sensory experiences.

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Ausgewählte Seiten

Inhalt

Confessions of a physicalist
1
Renaissance
25
Synaesthete extraordinaire?
55
The closet door opens
85
When is synaesthesia not synaesthesia? When it is a metaphor
115
Through a cloudy lens
141
It cant be genetic can it?
177
Pathology and theory
199
From romantic neurology to the ISA
223
Glossary
249
Further reading
257
Index
263
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Autoren-Profil (2001)

John Harrison is a senior neuropsychologist at the University of Cambridge, though has recently set up his own company in the biotech industry.

Bibliografische Informationen