What Is Synesthesia?

Synesthesia is a phenomenon which allows some people to experience the world by using different senses than what is typical.  For instance, they may smell colour, hear shapes, or see music.  It is thought that synesthesia may have hereditary links. Studies show that it usually affects females and there are more occurrences of it in those who are not right-handed. There are different types ~ for instance, in colour synesthesia, information such as numbers and dates may be experienced in terms of colour. In ordinal linguistic personification, the same dates and numbers may evoke separate personalities.  Key to the synesthesia perception is that the person who is experiencing it believes that the outer world possesses these qualities innately.  The colours of numbers are perceived as naturally as others would perceive the colours of flowers.  However, it may be possible that these abilities drift to the background of a person's perception due to the fact that there is not societal reinforcement.  In the late 1800's there was much research into the subject and only recently has there been resurgence in scientific interest.  Far from limiting people's perception of the world, synesthesia is now embraced as a possible creative tool.

Synesthesia, meaning "sensation"'—is a neurologically-based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.

Actually, in Greek synesthesia means "joined perception". It's really interesting-a good choice for a school project.