A Dance of Musical Color

Artists with a certain neurological condition put all their senses to work.

ART
Search results for “ART”
Close

The Examination of a Poem
How can literature serve medicine? An interview with the first “writer-in-residence” at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Facial Feminization
Photographer Elle Pérez documents the intimate lives of those in the LGBTQ community.

Anatomy of a Hashtag
Public health messaging online yields beautiful—but sometimes worrying—data.
See More
CLINICAL RESEARCH
Search results for “CLINICAL RESEARCH”
Close

Where Psychedelic Research Goes Next
A new generation of research looks at psilocybin, LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Both the challenges and the therapeutic promise are enormous.

One Man’s Poison
New genetic sequencing technologies have opened the door to animal venom therapies.

The Tender Years
Adversity in early childhood too often equals poor health later. Now researchers are looking for ways to change the equation.
See More
GENETICS
Search results for “GENETICS”
Close

An Errant Gene
A rare disease, now treatable thanks to a valiant international effort, offers a window into the metabolism of fat.

One Man’s Poison
New genetic sequencing technologies have opened the door to animal venom therapies.

From Genome to Pangenome
The reference genome is bracing for its next leap forward. Geneticist Ting Wang wants the process to embrace both science and social equity.
See More
NEUROSCIENCE
Search results for “NEUROSCIENCE”
Close

Where Psychedelic Research Goes Next
A new generation of research looks at psilocybin, LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Both the challenges and the therapeutic promise are enormous.

What Makes a Kid Clumsy?
More research into coordination disorders shows why some children are more prone to trip, fumble and spill the milk.

Back From the Brink
Near-death experiences have been the domain of pseudoscience. But clinicians ignore them at their peril.
See More

Published On May 3, 2009

A DANCE OF MUSICAL COLOR IS WHAT WASSILY KANDINSKY aimed to portray in Three Riders in Red, Blue and Black (1911), a woodcut inspired by the artist’s neurological condition—synesthesia—in which stimuli trigger perception by the “wrong” sense, allowing the perceiver to “see” sounds or “taste” words. Now an Oxford University study has linked the condition to four regions of the genome, including two chromosomes that are associated with autism and dyslexia. The study also shows a strong hereditary component, confirming anecdotal evidence described by Vladimir Nabokov (a synesthete, as were his mother and son) in his 1951 memoir.

Back
to top