Documentary Description
Imagine if every time you saw someone called Derek you got a strong
taste of earwax in your mouth. It happens to James Wannerton, who runs
a pub. Derek is one of his regulars. Another regular's name gives him
the taste of wet nappies. For some puzzling reason, James's sense of
sound and taste are intermingled.
Dorothy Latham sees
words as colours. Whenever she reads a black and white text, she sees
each letter tinged in the shade of her own multi-coloured alphabet -
even though she knows the reality of the text is black and white.
Spoken words have an even stranger effect. She sees them, spelled out
letter by letter, on a colourful tickertape in front of her head.
Both
James and Dorothy have a mysterious condition called synaesthesia, in
which their senses have become linked. For years scientists dismissed
it, putting it in the same category as séances and spoon-bending. But
now, synaesthesia is sparking a revolution in our understanding of the
human mind
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