Did you know that Sting is a synesthete? Another name to add to my list of famous synaesthetes

I was watching a documentary on SBS recently (yes, I do love to watch documentaries, and I have little time for watching drama, as per the autistic stereotype) and it was all about the human brain and the way it responds to music, with neuroscientists and brain scans, as you'd expect. As I've got a keen interest in synaesthesia, I thought I'd take a look at this Canadian doco that was made in 2009, assuming that they'd have to say a thing or two about synesthesia. Well, it appears that the documentary makers ignored the subject, which I found amazing. I couldn't find any mention of synesthesia in it. But that's not to say that there wasn't anything in this documentary about synaesthesia - there was, it's just that the boffin with the doctorate apparently didn't realise that his famous subject of study had just described to him his synaesthesia experiences, and that the brain scan of the famous musician's brain in action had also shown evidence highly suggestive of some type of visual synesthesia triggered by the experience of music. I tell you what, as a weirdly-wired Australian housewife with dish-pan hands, I seem to be better at spotting synaesthesia when I see it than many scientists working in prestigious positions in American universities. How strange!

Don't just take my word for it - see the evidence yourself. The documentary can be viewed at the link below, temporarily I believe. Note the conversation between Sting and the neuroscientist at around 46 minutes into the show. I'ts a description of a kind of visual-spatial synaesthesia triggered by the sound of music by Bach, a type of synaesthesia that I'm sure has been described many times before in the literature on synaesthesia, and in anecdotes from synaesthetes. I've had similar experiences myself.

The Musical Brain at SBS Documentary
http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/program/themusicalbrain

My list of famous synaesthetes that now needs to be updated.
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2009/01/famous-synaesthetes-or-possible.html