Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia Paperback – September 30, 2011

This book review was completed as a class assignment at Georgia Tech.Richard Cytowic and David Eagleman's "Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia" is a great read for anyone interested in learning about synesthesia and synesthetic experiences. The book is well structured, and filled with examples and testimonials from individuals with various forms of synesthesia. In addition to the entertaining and informative stories, the book also covers the current state of research in the field of synesthesia; from protocols used to tease out the differences between the synesthetic and nonsynesthetic brain to theories of how and why some brains develop synesthesia while others do not.The book begins with an anecdote to convey the view of synesthesia from the inside perspective and open the reader's mind. There is no way of confirming that the reality you experience is the same as your neighbor's reality. In fact, abnormal experiences, such as those experienced by synesthetes, prove to us that this is not the case. Delving into such extraordinary cases can teach us many things about the brain that we would not otherwise uncover. For this reason, the study of synesthesia is valuable, and will continue to expand as we gain a deeper understanding of how we perceive the world in which we live.The first chapter of the book explains difficulties with establishing an accurate prevalence of synesthesia. Individuals that have synesthesia have always had synesthesia, and generally assume that everyone else perceives the world in the same way, much as nonsynesthetes do. When they discover that is not the case, they often switch extremes, believing that nobody experiences what they experience. This alone is enough to keep most synesthetes from volunteering information about their internal experiences. Further, due to the extensive diversity of synesthetic cases, it is difficult to define precisely what constitutes synesthesia.In chapter 2, the authors discuss a few of the forms of synesthesia in detail; from the research data detailing measurable consistencies, to the subjective descriptions of the idiosyncrasies of the synesthetic experience. The chapter begins with more common forms, including number forms, colored graphemes, and tasted words. It continues into descriptions of rarer presentations of synesthesia, such as audio-motor, geometric pain, and sound to touch. Following the examples, the authors question why some kinds of synesthesia are more common than others, and whether there are limits on the variations of synesthesia left to be uncovered.While much of this book highlights benefits of having the "gift" of synesthesia, such as enhanced memory, in certain cases, the synesthetic experience can be burdensome. An example of this is provided in a synesthete with consistent bidirectional sound-color synesthesia. This synesthete explains that she avoids places with bright lights and loud noises, like the circus, whenever possible because she is unable to distinguish her synesthetic sensations from what is real, and that such an experience can be frightening and exhausting.This example of such an intense synesthetic experience is in contrast to `milder' forms, such as grapheme-color synesthesia. In grapheme-color synesthesia, letters evoke a sensation of color, but in some individuals, the associations may be weak or even nonpresent for some letters of the alphabet. Such variances in intensity of the experience lead to the question: how much synesthesia is normal? The author proposes a cognitive continuum that ranges from perceptual similarities, to synesthetic equivalences to metaphoric identities to abstract language. The book makes a point to explain that synesthesia is perceptual and not merely metaphoric depictions of normal experience, but suggests that the human capacity to understand metaphor may be linked in some way to the ability for the brain to create synesthetic associations.The authors describe the landscape of associations in the brain as being similar to a mountainous landscape, in which only some of the peaks break through the cloud cover of consciousness. Further, they claim that, if this were the case, the cross-connections of synesthesia may be present in all brains, but contained below the level of consciousness. Supporting this claim, both synesthetes and nonsynesthetes consistently match higher pitches with brighter colors when asked. Further, the use of phrases of abstract language such as "a loud tie" or "cool jazz" shows that the normal human brain is capable of making and understanding cross-modal associations. However, in most cases, the associations made by synesthesia, such as a pain that feels like the shape of a grid, are foreign to the general population.The book closes with a description of the current state of synesthesia research and some questions ahead of us on the path to understanding synesthesia. The authors remind us that synesthesia is not localized in one brain region, and that we should be looking throughout distributed networks to understand it. They also suggest that we should be asking not whether cross-talk is present, but to what extent. They claim that both the cross-talk theory and the disinhibited feedback model of synesthesia are incomplete because they do not yet incorporate the role of learning. Depending on both genetics and learning over a ifetime, there are many possible ways in which brain areas may interconnect, leading to different forms of synesthesia. Studies are beginning to explore the individual differences of synesthetes. Finally, they state it is possible for a single gene to underlie all of the different forms of synesthesia, as the condition may be inherited in various forms, but to date, such a gene has not been found."Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia" was an incredible book, and I would recommend it as both a knowledgeable book for anyone seeking to gain a well rounded understanding of synesthesia and an enjoyable book for a leisure read.

This book is a wonderful resource if you are curious about synesthesia in any way, shape or form. It covers so much detail and gives many personal examples and experiences. It truly opened my eyes to the many forms synesthesia can take, and how it affects every person individually. It's a lot to take in, honestly, and in order to get a proper reading experience I needed to be in a quiet place with no external distractions. If you are looking for a synesthesia "Bible" I would say this is definitely one of them.Some of my favorite passages from the book:"Erica's senses and concepts are open to each other, flowing and merging like weather streams.""They gave cosmic interpretations instead of straight forward descriptions, poetically embroidering their sensory experience.""We possess about 1,000 olfactory receptors, the result being that aroma sensations are far more diverse than taste sensations.""Pain and pleasure sensations evoke visual/spatial perceptions which are also in color. When I kissed my boyfriend I saw orange sherbet foam."

This is the book to read. A fascinating look / feel - touch / taste-hear / see smell/taste mix of all the senses you never believed anyone else would think existed... colours there are no names for, experiences of the world as unique and individual as everyone in the world. If you ever felt like no one understands the way you feel the world or taste the wind ... someone does. It's nice to know not everyone sees the world in the same way... in fact, in what passes for reality / truth: no two people actually do. And this book confirms it. Even more importantly: if you have "an over-active imagination" ... now you can feel sympathy for those who do not.

First of all: “WEDNESDAY IS NOT INDIGO BLUE” - It’s Lavender with grey background! Now, that probably gives it away – I’m a synesthete. This book is extremely informative. Most of what was not too hard for me to understand, though I don’t have most of the synesthesia types explained in the book. I wish I did – it seems so fascinating! The one downturn is that it’s not that a page turner as I wished. But It’s nice to read for anyone interested in this topic for whatever reason.

clinical student here - i don't have synesthesia (though i do wish i did after reading this!) but i've always loved psychology and "fringe" fields of neuroscience/neuropsychology, and i was surprised to find that synesthesia was anything but. the style of writing in this book is very logical and easy to follow, someone with no background in pyschology could read it cover to cover and thoroughly enjoy it. i'll definitely be going back to this in the future to reference some of the themes/ideas raised. chapter nine lends itself to the more detail-oriented, but nevertheless is accessible to lamen and scholars alike. i would definitely be interested to read other works by either of these authors. i found their style of presenting complex material in a fairly straightfoward, easy-to-comprehend manner enjoyable.if you are interested in perception, cognition, psychology, or just how some of the stranger things around you work, i would recommend this book.*PRO TIP: absolutely do NOT purchase the kindle version of this book. you need the physical text, as the colored pictures are numerous in quantity and very much pivotal in entirely understanding some of the conditions explained.*