Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses (Springer Series in Neuropsychology) [Hardcover]

Richard E. Cytowic (Author), Ayub K. Ommaya (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 1989 | ISBN-10: 0387968075 | ISBN-13: 978-0387968070

Synesthesia comes from the Greek syn (meaning union) and aisthesis (sensation), literally interpreted as a joining of the senses. Synesthesia is an involuntary joining in which the real information from one sense is joined or accompanies a perception in another. Dr. Cytowic reports extensive research into the physical, psychological, neural, and familial background of a group of synesthets. His findings form the first complete picture of the brain mechanisms that underlie this remarkable perceptual experience. His research demonstrates that this rare condition is brain-based and perceptual and not mind-based, as is the case with memory or imagery. Synesthesia offers a unique and detailed study of a condition which has confounded scientists for more than 200 years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Platek, Keenan, and Shackelford are leaders of the new generation of social and evolutionary neuroscientists. They have assembled a valuable collection of papers which integrate this blossoming field. Their book should be on the desk of any serious student of cognition and the brain who wants a thorough review of the empirical literature seen through a Darwinian lens."--Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, University of Cambridge

"This new edition brings the reader interested in synaesthesia rapidly up to date with the scholarly and scientific debates in this field, and will stand as the new textbook on this unusual condition."--Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, University of Cambridge

"In 1989, the first edition of Synesthesia rekindled discussion, which had died down somewhat since the 'synesthesia euphoria' of the 1920s. This new, revised edition explores the many theories that have emerged in the last ten years. No one who is seriously interested in synesthesia can afford to ignore this book."--Joerg Jewanski, Conservatory Muenster, GermanyPlease note: Let's try this once more! Please substitute an "o" with an umlaut for "oe" in "Joerg," and "u" with an umlaut for the "ue" in "Muenster." Note the change in affiliation. Endorser gives permission to excerpt from quote.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Richard E. Cytowic, M.D., founded Capitol Neurology, a private clinic in Washington, D.C., and teaches at George Washington University Medical Center. He is the author of Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses and The Man Who Tasted Shapes, both published by the MIT Press. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: Springer (March 13, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387968075
• ISBN-13: 978-0387968070
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,229,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard E. Cytowic, MD likes how delightfully counterintuitive neural interpretations of everyday experience can be. The Duke graduate was attracted to the brain because of the surprisingly strange and peculiar syndromes encountered in neurology. He is best known for bringing synesthesia back to mainstream science after decades of obscurity.

An Associate Professor of Neurology at George Washington University, Dr. Cytowic has an MFA in creative writing from American University. His New York Times Magazine cover story about Press Secretary James Brady, who was shot in the head during the assassination attempt on President Reagan, received a Pulitzer nomination in 1982. He is the author of five books, including his latest, Wednesday is Indigo Blue, published by MIT Press.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Phenominal!!, August 25, 2003

By 

Tijs Limburg "Audio Professional" (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses - Second Edition (Hardcover)

I don't know where to begin. Cytowic is a master and genius of the world of research into synesthesia. This book contains studies and patient test results that show that synesthesia is real, and could become a breakthrough field of research and technology. I'm not even studying to be a neurologist or a medical doctor, but the factual evidences, graphs, and theories within this book captured the mind of this electrical engineering and music student. The book is absolutely thourough, as Cytowic's research must be. I especially like the quotes and stories he uses from his patients, as they attempt to explain the sensory phenomina which synesthetics see. Synesthesia, a phenominon where sound is seen with colors, taste is felt as shapes, etc. has recently been the focus of scientists alike, and has been featured in the Scientific American Magazine. The groundbreaking ideas and knowledge within this book is a must have for any intellectual, especially those with synesthesia. The technologies and discoveries that await the world of science hidden within the human mind, especially in synesthesia, are hard to fathom, but will be extremely important. That is what makes this book stand out against so many others. The ease at which Cytowic presents the data and theories is absolutely worth a five star rating. The book is absolutely worth buying, to understand the real phenomina in those around us, and within us. This book contains the roots of understanding to an infant world of research within the topic, which is bound for medical history!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating overview, May 16, 2006

By 

Dr. Lee D. Carlson (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses - Second Edition (Hardcover)

Back in the sixties and seventies this reviewer used to hear various individuals describe their ability to "see" musical notes while under the influence of LSD. This claim seemed outlandish at the time, but thanks to the efforts of a few researchers, the author of this book being one of them, it is now established that there are individuals who do have this ability, along with others who experience "cross-modality" in the senses. This is now called `synesthesia' and offers enormous challenges to those who seek a neuroscientific explanation of its occurrences. For those, such as this reviewer, who are curious about synesthesia, but are not experts in neuroscience or cognitive psychology, this book offers a comprehensive but yet understandable overview. It will no doubt also satisfy the needs of students and professional researchers.

Synesthesia ("joined sensation") is fascinating to contemplate, especially when reading the many anecdotal reports of people, called `synesthetes', that are included throughout the book. Some synesthetes are able to sense the color of someone's voice, while others are able to see music. The author does not want to label synesthetes as being abnormal however. Recognizing that it is rare statistically, he wants to view it as normal brain process that arises in a small number of individuals. Apparently, synesthetes are predominantly female, non-right-handed, have good memories, have in general difficulty with mathematics, but yet are highly intelligent. The author does refer to synesthetes as `cognitive fossils', which he says encapsulates best the notion that synesthesia involves the attaching of `meaning' to perceptions. It does not imply that synesthesia is "primitive" in the sense that one might be tempted to ascribe to those words.

The author describes the history of research in synesthesia early on in the book. An entire chapter is devoted to the experiences as synesthetes try to describe them. One patient, designated as patient S in the book, had, amazingly, a "pentamodal" synesthesia, wherein the stimulation of one sense causes synesthesia in the remaining four. The author lists, by percentage of individuals, the different types of synesthesia, and when viewing this table, it is readily apparent that `chromesthesia', or "colored hearing" is the most prevalent type. Several questions arise when reading about the different types of synesthesia. For example, for those synesthetes who see colored shapes when listen to music, do the shapes correspond to distinct musical notes or to musical groupings of some sort? And are the shapes the same whenever the same music is listened to? The author points to the constancy of synesthesias over the lifetime of the synesthetes. In addition, their intensity and occurrence is not subject to volition. Apparently the memory of synesthetes is enhanced via the use of the parallel sense as a mnemonic device. There are therefore advantages in having some form of synesthesia.

As synesthesia is an established fact it is of course natural to ask as to why it occurs and to study in detail its causes. Most of the book is devoted to these questions, both from a clinical standpoint and a neuroscientific one. As far as the region of the brain that supports synesthesia, the author argues that it is primarily in the left hemisphere and engages the temporal lobe and limbic structures. He discusses extensively the evidence for this. Readers who are not familiar with contemporary concepts in neuroscience may find the reading somewhat difficult, but the author includes some fairly detailed explanations of the anatomical features of the brain that are relevant for synesthesia. For this reviewer, the most important fact to be remembered from this discussion is that of the `module concept' of cerebral cortex architecture. A module consists of a well-defined group of approximately ten thousand cells with mutual connections that inhibit the cells of nearby modules. The modules are thus "localized" and the author believes that it is this property that explains synesthesia, rather than postulating a "cross-wiring" that occurs at the boundary between sensory entities. Central to the author's neuronal explanation of synesthesia is what he calls the `transmodal binding model', the latter in reference to the `transmodal areas'. These areas, which include the midtemporal cortex and the posterior parietal cortex, are responsible for giving meaning to words and transforming events into experiences, among other things.

Clearly synesthesia is a fascinating subject, and the author is the first to admit much more research needs to be done. A perusal of the literature on neuroscience or cognitive neuroscience reveals that there is not overwhelming interest in the subject at the present time. This will no doubt change, as there is more appreciation now in scientific circles of the subjective elements of human experience, such as human consciousness. A greater understanding of the brain is needed to decide just what lies behind synesthesia as well as human consciousness. Certainly there are more surprises ahead.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of Depth, March 25, 2007

By 

John Falicki (Moraga, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses - Second Edition (Hardcover)

I read the first edition of this book almost 20 years ago and I was blown away. Dr. Cytowic is a master of depth; I learned so much from that book that has served me well for many years. I can't wait to read this second edition. It's not just about the phenomenon of synaesthesia, it's about the brain and how it works. At bottom I would call it an outstanding text on Neurophilosophy.