[Slay Mantus]

Apparently there is a condition that some humans have where thier senses are actually mixed up.
They can feel smells and stuff like that. pretty wierd huh, somethin to do with the brain not connecting the watchamacallit to the thingymuwut.
i couldnt really find an article so if som1 here could itd be helpful

[Neraphym]

Hm, sometimes I can taste what I smell... I think its natural, though, as the two senses are so very similar.

[Slay Mantus]

it is natural scientists have found small amounts of like smell sensors on your tongue so u can technically smell with your tongue but it is not as sensitive as the nerves in your nose

[Neraphym]

Eww... whats bad is the things I can usually taste are really really bad doggy farts.

[Goto]

Hehe, Yum.

It's true that taste and smell are very closely linked, which is also why you can't taste food properly when you've got a cold. Interesting that the brain could be wired to mix up the other senses, though.

[Dragonman]

"Mmm, just feel that burrito."

"What?"

I still wonder about how dogs sweat through their tongues..would be soo gross.. Although it is a plus for us since we can always pet our dogs without the worry of plunging into a sweaty coat. ><

[Neraphym]

Turn your music down, I can smell it from the other room!

[Ferret Overlord]

Hm, sometimes I can taste what I smell... I think its natural, though, as the two senses are so very similar.

Your nasal passage is connected to your throat, where your tongue is housed. The fact that smells are just particles of whatever it is your smelling make it almost as if your eating, except for the fact their so small you'd need to smell one for a few days to get a bite of steak. Yes, that goes for feces too.

To 1 in 500,000 of us, senses become unusually associated in a little-understood condition called synesthesia. A sensation involving one sense is perceived in terms of another, so that, most commonly, visions take on characteristic smells or sounds are associated with particular colors. Although synesthetic people are unlikely to share the same associations, they do share some aspects of their talents--their particular quirks are involuntary, remain constant over their lifetimes (a certain name or song is always a certain color), and they are absolutely convinced that what they perceive is reality, not something in their mind's eye.

We do not know what causes synesthesia, although it does seem to be inherited. The condition has been sheepishly reported to psychologists and physicians for at least 200 years. Various theories (all unproven) have attributed the condition to an immature nervous system that cannot sort out sensory stimuli; altered brain circuitry; and simply an exaggerated use of metaphor--taking such descriptions as a sharp flavor, warm color, and sweet person too literally.

In 1980, measurements of cerebral blood flow linked synesthesia to a brain abnormality. A person who tasted in geometric shapes inhaled a harmless radioactive chemical, xenon-133, which her tissues absorbed. The rate at which the chemical left certain parts of her brain indicated how metabolically active that part was. When brain activity was so assessed during a synesthetic experience, it was found that blood flow in her left hemisphere, particularly in the temporal lobe, plummeted 18% -- a decrease seen only when tissue dies as a result of a stroke. But the woman was perfectly healthy. The left hemisphere is the site of the language center. Another clue is that people with temporal lobe epilepsy are often synesthetic. Researchers believe that synesthesia reflects a breakdown in the translation of a perception into language -- but we have much to learn about this fascinating mixing of the senses.

[Slay Mantus]

Mozart had a partial synesthesia
he saw different like octaves of musical notes in different colors

[Aaron]

Mozart had a partial synesthesia
he saw different like octaves of musical notes in different colors
 

Yes, I have heard that before. Very intriguing if you ask me.

[Goto]

Yeah, while that article that Ferret quoted certainly makes it sound like a bad thing, you can imagine how it might produce some quite amazing people, since they perceive the world differently.

[Zziggywolf5]

The only thing that would really be bad is how other people would react. People would probably act funny around you, 'cause they wouldn't understand.