https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17588928.2015.1035245 link to artic

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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17588928.2015.1035245

link to article---discussion portion: copied below

Chocolate smells pink and stripy: Exploring olfactory-visual synesthesia

The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics of olfactory-visual synesthesia, and to use the unusual aspects of olfaction to examine the contributions of conceptual versus perceptual factors. Our data, from six olfactory-visual synesthetes, reflect the first systematic examination of this phenomenon.

In grapheme-color synesthesia, the elicited images are usually single colors. In contrast, most of our olfactory-visual synesthetes reported complex visual images in which color was only one feature (Figure 1). As a group, the synesthetes were more consistent than matched non-synesthetes in their consistency of naming odorants on two separate occasions. In addition, there was greater similarity in images elicited by the same odor across test-retest sessions relative to different odors. This similarity was driven primarily by consistent naming, but there was still greater similarity of images than for different odors, even when an odor was given a different name across test sessions. This effect was due to hedonic information. With odors presented to the mouth as part of a flavor on one occasion (retronasal) and as a smell to the nose on another (orthonasal), images were only similar when the odor was named consistently. Overall, then, this suggests that these synesthetes experience reproducible visual experiences when presented with an odorant, analogous to other forms of synesthesia.

Although we discuss the general features of this form of synesthesia below, it is important to note the heterogeneity in synesthetes’ responses. Most, but not all (5/6), synesthetes generated more similar images to the same odor than different odors, but only half the group (3/6) showed similarity based on hedonic information above and beyond similarity based on naming consistency. We could not explore the origins of this variability with our sample size, but our synesthetes varied in age, gender, and olfactory performance score and these differences may account for some of this variability.

The reliability of the elicited images over time was primarily driven by consistent identification of an odor’s name. One possibility is that the odor name alone could evoke these complex visual images, but this does not seem to be the case with our synesthetes. They all reported that the experience occurred on smelling the odorant, not when talking about it. Although all of these synesthetes also have synesthesia related to language, they vary in whether all letters and words, letters alone, or only some words evoke synesthesia. Our data suggest that odor identification is important in supporting the generation of a reliable image, which is consistent with access to meaning being a key driver of synesthetic experience, just as it seems to be for grapheme-color synesthesia

PLEASE PUT TOGETHER A SUMMARY OF DATA COLLECTED AND WHAT THE DISCUSSION AIMS TO PORTRAY

Explanation / Answer

The main purpose of the study is to determine the synesthetes does have combinational sensation of odor and vision. Synesthetes are those who have synesthesia condition who feel combination of senses. Most of the synesthetes reacted similarly to same odors rather than different odors. Synesthetes showed results to languages also, where they vary with all letters or only some words.

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