Synaesthesia is a type of ‘merging of the senses’. It is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.There are various types. Between 4% and 5% of the population are thought to experience it in some form.

People with synaesthesia may experience colours when listening to music, see shapes when smelling certain scents, or perceive tastes when looking at words or hearing speech. Letters or numbers may be perceived as coloured. People who report a lifelong history of such experiences are known as synaesthetes. Synaesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways. 

Some synaesthetes report that they were unaware that their experiences were unusual until they realized other people did not have them.  Is that you?

Is the phenomenon relevant to East Sheen and Mortlake?