Martian colors
I went to see Oliver Sacks talk about his new book Musicophilia at the Cambridge Forum on Monday night, in Harvard Square. He described one very interesting phenomenon that I’ve never heard of before… that colorblind people with synesthesia can sometimes have associations that result in the perception of colors they have never seen in the real world. These colors are called “martian colors”.
(Much more info in this great blog post.)
3 Comments
- kirthi replied:
that’s my shirt!
November 8th, 2007 at 12:27 pm. Permalink.
- Rachel replied:
I’m jealous. I heard the interview he did on Fresh Air. Interesting stuff.
I wish I’d done a CT scan before I started playing cello. I could’ve see my brain development!
November 8th, 2007 at 5:32 pm. Permalink.
- Shawn Burns replied:
See also Paul Churchland’s paper “Chimerical Colors” published in 2005.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:17 am. Permalink.
