Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia

Synonyms

Word-taste synesthesia

Definition

Lexical-gustatory synesthesia is a sub-variant of the familial condition known as synesthesia, which is characterized by a merging of sensory and/or cognitive functions. In lexical-gustatory synesthesia, words trigger accompanying food sensations, and these are experienced as either veridical perceptions of flavor (e.g., the word jail tastes of bacon in the mouth) or as an overwhelming and automatic cognitive association between the inducing word and the food type (e.g., the word jail evokes the notion of bacon).

Characteristics

Quantitative Description

Synesthesia is a multi-variant condition in which everyday activities (e.g., reading, listening to music) give rise to extraordinary experiences (e.g., colors, tastes). Each variant is characterized by the pairing of a particular type of synesthetic “inducer” (i.e., triggering stimulus) with a particular type of experience (or synesthetic “concurrent”) and in the lexical-gustatory variant these...