From Publishers Weekly
In 1979, neurologist Cytowic met a man who literally tasted shapes, and a woman who heard and smelled colors. These otherwise normal people had synesthesia, an exceedingly rare perceptual disorder in which the senses become intermingled. What Cytowic learned from them is told here through the portraits of the synesthetes and through his own detective work and consultations with medical colleagues. There is an appealingly suspenseful quality to this reportage, and the--worth waiting for--denouement is that synesthetes see nothing less than the building blocks of perception normally hidden from consciousness. Artfully drawing back the curtain of consciousness, the author suggests that synesthetes temporarily experience a shutdown of the left hemispheric cortex. The interesting implications he extracts from this finding are that consciousness is emotional rather than rational, that the emotional part of the brain--the limbic system--evolved just as much as the cortex, and that our actions are guided by a wisdom that is not apparent to the conscious mind. Also noteworthy is Cytowic's discussion of art and creativity. Artists are among the few who are able to tap into their emotive knowledge, he maintains. Among Cytowic's conclusions: Ravel and Kandinsky were synesthetes, and Scriabin and Kodaly were aware of the condition,whose existence motivated them to find colors to match tones. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A practicing neurologist, Cytowic has authored journal articles as well as a textbook on synesthesia. In this popular account, he describes this rare medical condition, in which one sense of the synesthete involuntarily conjures up another. An artist whose sense of taste elicts the sense of touch became the primary subject of a series of experiments in which Cytowic demonstrated that the limbic system is essential for the expression of synesthesia. This discovery has profoundly influenced our understanding of the brain and the primary role played by emotion. In a series of thought-provoking essays, the author expounds upon the issue of subjective experience. Readers familiar with Oliver Sacks's extraordinary neurological tales will find Cytowic's book equally engaging.
- Laurie Bartolini, Lincoln Lib., Springfield, Ill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Laurie Bartolini, Lincoln Lib., Springfield, Ill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
