Color squares
Color Matters

How Color Affects Us

Symbolism & Emotions
Effects on the Body
Effects on Vision
Design & Art
Business & Marketing
Computers
Ecology & Usability
Amazing Science
Color Chatter
Hot Topics
Research

New !
Color Matters for Kids

  Fun Stuff


Factoids
The Color Police
Color Tales

  Express Yourself

Global Color Survey
Bulletin Board

  Resources

Where to Study Color
Bibliography
Links

Who Is Color Matters


Who is ....
Color Matters in Art
Travels

 Blog & Newsletter

Blog
Newsletter

  Other Color Matters

Color Matters Store
Color Voodoo Ebooks
Color Consultation
  
Make a Donation
  Home
       Table of Contents
.

How Color Affects Taste and Smell

This question pertains to the condition known as synaesthesia. This condition describes how our senses work together. For example - with respect to sight, taste and smell - seeing a color may evoke any number of other sensations. Green may be evocative of the smell of grass, lemon yellow may evoke a sour taste.

This is best understood by the fact that each sense has a pathway to the brain. These paths are parallel to each other.

Sensory Input pathways

However, in some situations, a cross over from one pathway to the other occurs. Seeing the color yellow-green may evoke taste sensations of sourness; pink may evoke sweetness. Seeing the color grey may evoke olefactory (smell) sensations of smokiness.

Cross over between sensory pathways

We all have some degree of synaesthesia. However, a person with a strong sense of synaesthesia senses stimuli different from a "normal" person. For example, to the person with synaesthesia, a color might have a "taste", a sound might be "felt", and a food might be "heard".

Here are some web sites that will provide much more information :

Blue Beef and Violins
The taste of beef, such as a steak, produces a rich blue. When she hears violins, she also feels them on her face.

How color affects taste
Science Project - Easy to understand student project

Synaesthesia - Doctor Hugo || Museums of the Mind ||
New media org. for art & mind research
Belgian Synaesthesia Association [BSA]

The International Synaesthesia Association
(University of Cambridge)

Synesthesia in Art and Science
MIT

Synaesthesia ( Links and references)
Letters + colours
Sounds + synesthesia

Color and Odors


Advertisement

Get an eBook copy of the  Color Matters web site to use at your convenience.



Questions?


Color Matters is a registered trademark of J.L. Morton.
Graphics and Text: Copyright (c) 1995-2007, J.L.Morton, All rights reserved

   Advanced Search  


Color Logic ... download a guide to color right now