Product Description
A person with synesthesia might feel the flavor of food on her fingertips, sense the letter J as shimmering magenta or the number 5 as emerald green, hear and taste her husband's voice as buttery golden brown. Synesthetes rarely talk about their peculiar sensory gift—believing either that everyone else senses the world exactly as they do, or that no one else does. Yet synesthesia occurs in one in twenty people, and is even more common among artists. One famous synesthete was novelist Vladimir Nabokov, who insisted as a toddler that the colors on his wooden alphabet blocks were "all wrong." His mother understood exactly what he meant because she, too, had synesthesia. Nabokov's son Dmitri, who recounts this tale in the afterword to this book, is also a synesthete—further illustrating how synesthesia runs in families. In Wednesday Is Indigo Blue, pioneering researcher Richard Cytowic and distinguished neuroscientist David Eagleman explain the neuroscience and genetics behind synesthesia’s multisensory experiences. Because synesthesia contradicted existing theory, Cytowic spent twenty years persuading colleagues that it was a real—and important—brain phenomenon rather than a mere curiosity. Today scientists in fifteen countries are exploring synesthesia and how it is changing the traditional view of how the brain works. Cytowic and Eagleman argue that perception is already multisensory, though for most of us its multiple dimensions exist beyond the reach of consciousness. Reality, they point out, is more subjective than most people realize. No mere curiosity, synesthesia is a window on the mind and brain, highlighting the amazing differences in the way people see the world.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 7 reviews)

Great Read in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Synesthesia by P. Stone (MS/PR)

5 Stars
June 11, 2009
I actually bought this book as a gift for one of my psychology students who is extremely interested in synesthesia. He has been a voracious reader on the topic and loves this book. He tells me that it is the best that he has read on the role of cognitive neuroscience in understanding the phenomenon. I can't wait to borrow it back!

Changing Perceptions by Chris S. Rogers (Delaware)

5 Stars
May 12, 2009
This handsome book is well written and I feel will appeal to both the casual reader and more techincally minded reader as well. Wednesday Is Indigo Blue, tells how we all can "see" the same "something," share about it, but really have percieved this "something" quite differently often on several levels. The human brain is fascinating... but this book gives us new perceptions on how we understand as individuals.

Fascinating! by Mark Richards (Florida, USA)

5 Stars
May 10, 2009
"Wednesday is Indigo Blue" explodes off the pages with vibrant color and fascinating personal accounts to wonderfully illustrate this bizarre medical mystery!

Fantastic book by J. Hawthorn (Boca Raton, FL)

5 Stars
May 09, 2009
Science and the arts converge to provide an in depth look at this fascinating condition. The anecdotes used in the book serve to illustrate the endless expressions of synesthesia, and build a bridge to the more technical discussions. I've gained a new perspective to view the world!

A Whole New World - Wow by P. Hawthorn (Boca Raton Florida)

5 Stars
May 08, 2009
Unbelievable! This is a whole new world I never knew existed. The chapter on art and creativity is fascinating in its discussion of synesthetic artists.The section on David Hockey (complete with an interview!) is worth the price alone. The book is loaded with gorgeous color illustrations. I wish I had this ability. I'm still walking around stunned at the scope of Cytowic and Eagleman's work. The writing is beautiful, too, with a strong voice. You'd never guess it was written by two people.

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