How words taste? | Clipmarks


	How words taste?

JDomingues

11-22-2006 2:41 PM

563 views

tags:

science, synesthesia, words, taste, conversation, mind, perception

1 Comment |

Add a Comment

11-22-2006 4:58 PM

fleuree

This is one 'condition' I'd love to have. The ability to taste words is just one of many ways in which synesthesia manifests.

It really captures the imagination just reading about it.

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

View the Top Clips from November 22, 2006

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/6b5f954c-1d21-4b6e-a4cb-55ee7cb31492/AF66D495-7CF4-455B-8B68-773E2061C8E0/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=10B253DA-E7F2-99DF-3AFDD008E9F2DE67&ref=rss" href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=10B253DA-E7F2-99DF-3AFDD008E9F2DE67&ref=rss" style="font-size: 11px;">www.sciam.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=10B253DA-E7F2-99DF-3AFDD008E9F2DE67&ref=rss"><table background="undefined" bgcolor=""><tr><TD valign="top" align="left" class="titleArticle" colspan="2">A Special Few Can "Taste" a Word Before They Can Say It
	</TD></tr></table></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=10B253DA-E7F2-99DF-3AFDD008E9F2DE67&ref=rss"><table background="undefined" bgcolor=""><tr><TD class="home"><TABLE width="205" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="right"><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG width="5" height="1" border="0" src="http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif" /></TD><TD align="right" class="home"><IMG border="0" align="right" alt="Science%20Image:%20taste" src="http://www.sciam.com/media/inline/10B253DA-E7F2-99DF-3AFDD008E9F2DE67_1.gif" />
</TD></TR><TR><TD><IMG width="5" height="1" border="0" src="http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif" /></TD><TD align="right" class="imageCredit">Image: © HOLGER SCHEIBE/ZEFA/CORBIS
	</TD></TR><TR><TD><IMG width="5" height="1" border="0" src="http://www.sciam.com/media/struct/trans.gif" /></TD><TD align="left" class="captionText"><B>TASTE OF THE UNKNOWN:</B> 
Words caught on the tip of the tongue elicit tastes in people with an unusual mixing of the senses called synesthesia.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Having a word stuck on the tip of the tongue is enough to activate an unusual condition in which some people perceive words as having different tastes, according to a new study. When people with the inherited condition, called synesthesia, looked at pictures of objects that come up infrequently in conversation, they perceived a taste before they could think of the word.<P></p> <P>Some researchers believe synesthesia is an extreme version of what happens in everyone's mind. If so, the result suggests that all abstract thoughts are associated with specific perceptions, says neuropsychologist Julia Simner of the University of Edinburgh, co-author of the report. "The extent to which abstract thought is truly abstract--that's really what the question is."</p> </TD></tr></table></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/AF66D495-7CF4-455B-8B68-773E2061C8E0/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>