Food for thought... teenager who can taste words and music
EVERYONE has their own taste in music.
But one teenage Scots student can literally taste the tones and melodies of her favourite songs.
Annie Bird has the extremely rare disorder lexical-gustatory synaesthesia, which means tunes provoke flavours in her sensory system.
The condition – which affects less than 0.2 per cent of the population – also extends to single words, meaning she can taste parts of her everyday conversations.
For the 19-year-old it means tunes by pop singer Lana Del Rey evoke the taste of mango juice, while the word ‘oblige’ tastes like sweetened porridge.
Similarly the word ‘judge’ tastes of stale bread while the utterance ‘left’ makes her feel as though she has eaten McDonald’s chips.
The theatre student’s first experience of the condition came when her parents, Cathy Abbott, 56, and Adrian Bird, 70, played a song by the electronic band Lemon Jelly at their family home.
Miss Bird, who was aged around one at the time, said: ‘I remember really tasting the music. It was a really strong chemical taste, but I assumed everyone tasted it.
‘I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. I always thought it was normal, and that everyone else tasted certain words or music.’
She added: ‘It was only when I was 13, when I was watching a YouTube video, that I heard of synaesthesia – which is where a sensation in one of the senses, like hearing, triggers a sensation in another, such as taste. I started researching it and came across lexical-gustatory synaesthesia and thought, “that’s me”.’
An online test confirmed her self-diagnosis but the teenager has yet to visit a doctor as there are no known treatments.
‘Having this condition makes me more creative and certainly makes listening to music a lot more interesting than if I was just listening to it normally,’ she said.
‘Most people think what I have is a bit mad, and I suppose it is, but it’s what’s makes me different and I like that.’
But there are downsides to the condition, which can trigger unpalatable tastes and even panic attacks.
Miss Bird, from Edinburgh, said: ‘Sometimes when people are talking to me I try not to wince or spit if they say certain words which taste horrible. It’s not a common word, but the colour “puce” makes me taste rotten food, which is really disgusting.
‘And the word “thrills” is like the smell of cement in my mouth.’
Panic attacks can begin when her senses become overloaded by the disorder.
Miss Bird said: ‘When I started listening to music by myself, it sometimes became overwhelming.
‘I try not to make a big deal of it when I taste strange things, but when I do try to explain what is happening, some people think I’m exaggerating. They say it’s not a real condition when I tell them about it – but it certainly is.
‘The taste isn’t specific to voices or accents but it’s the tone of certain words and lyrics which gets me. My reactions can be especially powerful if I am reading too.’
Miss Bird is now sharing her story to help others who may have similar symptoms but do not know why.
She said: ‘There are probably lots of other people out there with the condition who don’t know what it is, and I want to help them.’
James Wannerton, president of the UK Synaesthesia Association, who also has the disorder, said: ‘Lexical-gustatory synaesthesia is an extremely rare condition and a lot of people who I speak to through the association self-diagnose.
‘Often when people go to their GP there’s not much that he or she can do because there is no cure, and so many people don’t even know they have it.’
‘I always thought it was normal’