How does your name taste? The strange science of synaesthesia
This article is part of a series in which we speak to individuals who – due to a unique job, location or experience – share an insight they wish others could know. What's the one thing people should know?
Why It Matters
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Key Facts
- Fact 1: As a child, Constantina Makridakis, a 28-year-old jewellery designer from Greece, thought everyone could taste voices and names.
- Fact 2: Billie Eilish, a synaesthete, poses on the red carpet during the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, on March 10, 2024 [Aude Guerrucci/Reuters]Music as colours The experience of synaesthesia can vary significantly.
- Fact 3: In 1842, he is said to have confused musicians in the Weimar orchestra when he instructed them, “Gentlemen, a little bluer, if you please!” Janina Neufeld, a researcher at the Centre of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND) in Sweden, said that although it may seem surprising for non-synesthetes to hear about Makridakis’s experience, most of us can relate if we think about our own internal sensory associations.
- Fact 4: It is estimated that 2 to 4 percent of the world’s population experiences some form of synaesthesia, although the true number may be higher, Neufeld said.
This article is part of a series in which we speak to individuals who – due to a unique job, location or experience – share an insight they wish others could know. What's the one thing people should know?
We’re all thinking differently about the same thing. As a child, Constantina Makridakis, a 28-year-old jewellery designer from Greece, thought everyone could taste voices and names. Her father’s name, Nicholas, tasted like caramel-coated chocolate, while her mother’s name, Maria, was pasta with prawns.
(Original synthesis pending human/AI review — generated by the stub provider by selecting real sentences from the source material, not by writing new analysis or commentary.)
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