Some people's brains make them hear color and taste sounds. Genetics may explain why.

I remember the first time I was introduced to the concept of synesthesia. I was in seventh grade, sitting in the dark, watching an educational video about the neuroscience of the phenomenon in lieu of our typical life science coursework. A British woman with lexical-gustatory synesthesia appeared on screen to describe the way every name she'd ever spoken had a different taste. Many of the particulars of the documentary have faded in the decade since I last saw it, but I still recall the woman saying "the name Catherine tastes like chocolate cake." For years, I have wished (perhaps unfairly) that I had synesthesia, a rare neurological condition where senses enterwine.