Synaesthesia

There's a short article in last week's New Scientist about a Swiss musician with synaesthesia (the condition where people experience a crossover between sensory stimuli -- e.g. 'seeing' sounds or 'hearing' colours). This particular individual tastes sound combinations. That is, different pairs of notes (i.e. specific intervals) evoke certain tastes: for example, a major third tastes sweet, a fifth tastes like pure water, and a fourth tastes like mown grass. I must say that I would probably retire as a musician if I was getting a storm of tastes while I was playing in a symphony orchestra (especially as tritones taste of disgust, and minor sevenths taste bitter).

I wonder...I wonder if the same kinds of mechanisms are at work when we associate particular memories/visual images with other types of sensation? For example, when I picture that 'lying down on the playground roundabout and spinning round' game, I get a real sense of dizziness/queasiness.

I also get a 'head spinning' feeling when I smell chlorine: this is because I slipped over at the swimming baths when I was little, banged my head and passed out. I've felt wobbly whenever I've walked on tiles since, and the smell of chlorine is enough to bring back the banged-head-dizziness sensation. Weird.