Archived News

Spotlight blares on rare medical condition

Spotlight blares on rare medical condition

What if you could see sounds and hear pictures?

About 4 percent of people across the world possess a rare ability that allows them to do just that. It’s called synesthesia, which Dr. Michael Vavra insists isn’t a disorder or even a medical condition.

“It’s a genetic trait,” said Vavra, a neurologist at Mountain Medical Associates and Haywood Regional Hospital in Clyde.

Vavra presented background on the relatively exotic genetic trait to an eager audience during a talk sponsored by the Haywood County Arts Council at Waynesville’s Strand Theater Sept. 13.

Synesthesia, he explained, is the production of a sensory impression from one part of the body that results from the stimulation of different part of the body.

Those so endowed can experience a variety of symptoms, often associated with abstract concepts like measurements of time; Vavra presented one example of a woman who “sees” the names of months before her eyes when they are mentioned.

Related Items

Others subliminally assign colors to numbers, which they, too, can see; Vavra even mentioned one man in England who experienced taste sensations stemming from the names of stations on London’s Underground subway system.

Some of the tastes experienced by the man, Vavra said, were unpleasant and caused the man to avoid certain “distasteful” stations.

But overall, Vavra said most who experience synesthesia describe it as a pleasant experience; although it can be temporarily induced by certain psychotropic drugs like LSD and mescaline, synesthesia is never completely debilitating, and in some circumstances can actually be useful.

Artists, for example, experience the sensation on average at eight times the rate of the rest of the population.

Joining Vavra on stage was one such artist — Kenneth Frazelle.

Although the North Carolina native Frazelle stressed that he’s never been clinically diagnosed with synesthesia, he says he’s experienced it throughout his life.

Thus, it’s not surprising that Frazelle is a talented watercolorist who also works in the music industry as a composer.

During his presentation, Frazelle spoke of how he was able see visual elements of sound, and hear music in paintings he’d seen.

He’s not just a lay observer, however; his credentials are impressive, to say the least.

Frazelle’s music has been performed by artists as prominent as Yo-Yo Ma, Jeffrey Kahane and Emmanuel Ax; he’s been commissioned by the Ravinia Festival as well as Charleston’s Spoleto, held residencies with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and later studied at Julliard under legendary American composer Roger Sessions, who also taught such luminaries as Elmer Bernstein and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Leon Kirchner.

“Brassy,” he said, alluding to the way modern language can be used to mix the senses between visual and audio artistry. “Some paintings I see I can only describe as brassy.”

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.