Does Marijuana Withdrawal Exist?

As the controversial new psychological diagnosis manual, the DSM-5, is being debated and discussed by prominent psychologists, many changes have been put into the limelight, including the inclusion of cannabis withdrawal as a disorder. The concept of marijuana withdrawal is a controversial one-- some say it doesn't exist, and others say that it's an important part of marijuana. If it does exist, it is certainly subtle. It seems to be that only opponents of cannabis use acknowledge its existence; actual users deny it. Are cannabis users correct by virtue of experience, or is it a denial based on bias?

In my opinion, to understand cannabis withdrawal, we must look at the reasons we smoke it in the first place. Its most widely recognized medical use is to aid chemotherapy patients in pain relief, nausea control, and appetite revival. It is also prescribed to those suffering from eating disorders (once again, to encourage appetite), anxiety disorders, and depression.

And what are the supposed symptoms of marijuana withdrawal? Irritability, anxiety, and a loss of appetite. Equal and opposite to the benefits that marijuana affords us. In my opinion, this is not withdrawal, but simply a return to sobriety. If you take something that improves your mood and your appetite, and then stop taking it, of course your mood and appetite are going to suffer. This is very different from, say, alcohol withdrawal, which produces muscle tremors and hallucinations. These symptoms (in most cases) were not present before the user became an alcoholic, and therefore, they present a new concern.

In my opinion, cannabis withdrawal is NOT a legitimate disorder and should NOT be included in the DSM-5.

Best Psychedelic Tumblr: "Disregard Everything I Say"

I'm not a huge fan of Tumblr. Most people aren't creating original content; they're just reblogging the same things everybody else does. One human, however, is really leaving everyone in the dust (including me!) when it comes to producing original content. His Tumblr, Disregard Everything I Say, is a great mix of both fact and really insightful opinions. I've read almost every single one of his posts, and I can't get enough. I'll give you a quick run-down on my favorite posts by him, so that you can go check him out yourself. :)

The Visual Components of a Psychedelic Experience
This is a comprehensive review of common visual effect categories resulting from the ingestion of psychedelics. Each entry includes a description, the intensity of the trip during which these visuals usually appear (rated out of five), and really accurate pictures recreating each effect (which you can see over there to the right). He's made a really thorough survey and does a great job describing each type. This is by far my favorite post on his site. If you read nothing else of his, read this.

The Mental Components of a Psychedelic Experience
Like in the last link, he describes many types of psychological effects that psychedelics can cause, to help you understand what to expect. Equally valuable as the last one, but without the pretty pictures. :)

(Untitled Picture)
His visual representation of what it is like living with HPPD (Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder).

Drug Induced Happiness vs Genuine Happiness
A really vital distinction. Many drug users don't understand the difference and therefore end up abusing the euphoric potential of certain substances, while many people with an anti-drug stance believe that drugs completely prevent true happiness.

How to easily avoid freaking out and having a bad trip
He offers both general statements that quell most neophyte psychonauts' anxiety ("you are not dying!") and also states his opinion on how to create the best set and setting.

Let's all begin testing the existence of DMT entities
His (admittedly cannabis-produced) idea of how to verify or disprove the actual existence of the alien entities often encountered during DMT trips.

Simple Mushroom Growing Technique
A basic but thorough guide. In my opinion, better-organized and more informative than the classic Erowid guide.

Simple DMT Extraction Technique
For all those eager to have the legendary DMT experience. No previous chemical expertise needed.

The Subjective Differences Between LSD, Mushrooms, and Ayahuasca
The first article I read from his site, and definitely one of the most insightful. I have only done mushrooms once, and ayahuasca never, and I never really assumed that they were too much different in quality. However, this guy disagrees and lays out for us the specific differences and similarities in a variety of categories. Also contains lots of pretty pictures!

Simple Ayahuasca Brewing Technique
Another really great guide.

Time Flies... or Jumps, or Skips, or....

Trouble and confusion regarding the passage of time is a really common characteristic of hallucinogenic experiences. Some people find it pleasant when time slows down or seems to behave strangely, and others will become baffled and anxious. This is sometimes exacerbated by the need to keep track of time for worldly engagements, or by paying too much attention to where you are in relation to your peak. Time perception is a really intricate brain process, involving many different pieces working together, and is by no means regular or infalliable.

There are many things that can affect your time perception even while sober. For example, the efforts of your eyes to maintain a clear picture can affect time perception. The eye actually makes many more jerky motions than we notice, and therefore has processes in place to give us the movie that we're used to. If you move your eyes very quickly to a clock with a second hand, you'll see that that one second seems to last longer than it should. The visual parts of the brain extend that image backwards in time so you perceive a smoother transition between your last focus and this new one.

I am by no means an expert on this matter, but from what I do know of perception and hallucinogens, these drugs affect the way your brain integrates the information that comes to it. I assume that that is why you sometimes see multiples-- your brain loses the ability to mesh the images from each of your eyes together. The kaleidoscope or fractal effect seems to me to be a result of the doubling of the edges of complex or irregular shapes, like clouds. Therefore, it's not a stretch that maybe the parts of your brain involved in time misfire similarly. LSD (I'm not so sure about other hallucinogens) results in sleeplessness and a loss of appetite, which may affect the Circadian Rhythm, which is the body process that tells you when it's time to eat and sleep. And experiencing novel things makes time seem to slow, and with hallucinogens novel is the name of the game.

My first trip was really interesting in this regard, and I didn't take it very well. I was reminded of this by both my friend's trip the other day and because I found my graphical representation of my time perception during that trip while I was cleaning out my drawer. :)

My ex-boyfriend took me out to the nearby park for my first peak. I figured I would feel very comfortable there because we hung out there a lot, but it was an unseasonably nice day so it was very crowded. It began to remind me strongly of a day that I had spent there with him a year earlier, and as that idea began to grow in my mind I became very confused. It seemed that the year had formed a loop, and that it was up to me to figure out the secret of breaking the loop so we didn't endlessly relive that year. Obviously, I had no idea how to go about this. I asked him if we could go back to his house, and he agreed. I sat down on his bed and asked for a piece of paper so I could try to explain my problem in a drawing. "I'm confused," I repeatedly whined. I felt that something important had happened on the journey home (probably just my peak) but I couldn't remember it.

TRANSCRIPTION:

I was trying to explain to you how time kept getting reset every 20 seconds. Minutes feel like hours. I feel like... who knows. I should just let it do its thing. I can't wrap my head around time. Like, the leaves could have been spring or autumn and then it was the day we met, it was a funeral was a wedding everything kept getting reset. What the hell was up with the pinecones? It seems tragic that I could have made that much of a fool of myself. I should stop fighting.

Time just got too much for me to handle. I should let myself float. I shouldn't be this confused.

All I can see are the leaves on the ground-- registers as orange. Orange? Could that be right? What? What day is it? Suddenly this matter o time is of utmost importance

I am glad that I saved this because I find it hilarious. :)

SOURCES

First Science

Wikipedia

LSD & Autism

My brother and I have always been exact opposites. He likes sports; I like books. I love to go out with friends; he would rather stay home and play on the computer. He likes math class; I like English. However, our most obvious difference is that he was diagnosed with Autism at age three. 

I was only five years old at the time, but since then the lives of each of our family members have been impacted irrevocably, mostly in a positive way. My mother encouraged my early love of books and writing by giving me a unique "homework assignment." I wrote and illustrated a shoe-tying manual when my brother was having trouble grasping the concept. He was an early reader as well, and would delightedly flip through each of the pages and laugh at my goofy stick-figure drawings. My mother would hold him on her lap and guide him through the process, until he finally understood well enough to do it himself. I would sit next to them and beam with pride that something I had created could have a positive effect on someone else. From then on, the only thing I have wanted to do with my life is write. I hope to use my skill with and enthusiasm for language to influence the world and the individuals in it. 

As time went on, I developed skills to match those he lacked. He often speaks in a cryptic, seemingly illogical way, but since we grew up together I was the only one who could translate what he meant to my parents and the other adults who dealt with him, further improving my own language and people skills and helping him to be understood and accepted. I helped him make friends by inviting him along with me on outings, and encouraging him to join clubs he might be interested in. I enjoy seeing him succeed in a realm where he has had such difficulties, and love doing whatever I can to help. 

Most importantly, I learned from my brother that each individual really is just that, and cannot be judged by his or her differences. In the diverse world we live in, we must learn to accept everyone, regardless of any label or diagnosis you can attach to them. My brother's presence in my life has reminded me how important the individual is to the whole world, and what a difference one person can make.

Yes, I just subjected you to my entire college admissions essay (names excised). Yes, it's a little cheesy and self-serving, but it's all true. I think it's important to help you understand not only my relationship with LSD, but my relationship with Autism as well.

Autism is often misunderstood, due to its spectrum of symptoms that differ per individual, and its convoluted history. I have lived with my Autistic brother for 17 of my 18 years, and even so, it's much easier to explain my brother and his unique behavior than it is to explain Autism as a whole. I can assure you that the barely-stifled rumors of Autism being created by unloving mothers isn't true: Autism is thought to be caused by a variety of factors in conjunction, including genetics (not one gene; the rights ones must be "in alignment"), disease during pregnancy (like Rubella), exposure to certain chemicals in the womb, and/or immune system deficits. There is no test for Autism, and maybe there never will be, but symptoms are noticeable by age three, and include:

• Impairment of nonverbal social behaviors (like eye contact)
• Trouble with peer relationships
• Lack of social reciprocity (trouble holding conversation, or truly sharing in shared experiences)
• Delay in spoken language and other forms of communication, like gesticulation
• Inappropriate use of language (not the swearing that is a stereotype of Tourette's, but problems with pronouns and prepositions, or repetition of other people's words or sentences, etc.)
• Restricted and obsessive interests (for example, my brother can't really hold a conversation about anything besides sports statistics)
• Adherence to rituals and schedules, and a resultant anxiety if they are changed or something unexpected occurs
• Repetitive mannerisms (hand-flapping is the stereotype; my brother never does anything halfway, and instead gallops around the yard or house with his hand a few inches from his face, and makes ticky-sounding computer noises to his hand, which I'm sure terrifies the neighbors)
• Sensitivity to sensory stimulation (one boy I know keeps his fingers in his ears all the time; my brother is phobic of fire alarms and dogs, and has to cut the itchy tags off of all of his clothing)

These traits persist through adulthood-- an Autistic child, without extensive therapy and special education, will probably never be socially "normal." Therefore, Autism isn't just a disorder, it's an important part of what makes an Autistic individual him- or herself. (If you're interested in reading more about Autism, its history, and its impact on families, I recommend Richard Grinker's Unstrange Minds. I'm only about halfway through it right now, but it's very interesting and informative and matches up closely with my experience with this disorder.)

Before LSD was hijacked by the hippies and the radicals, it belonged to the psychiatrists. They used it to treat a variety of emotional and psychological problems, including alcoholism and schizophrenia. In the early sixties, Autism was just changing from a symptom meaning extreme introversion, to a unique diagnosis separate from childhood schizophrenia (which is actually extremely rare). However, psychiatry at that time was not as organized as it is today, and therefore childhood schizophrenia was still a frequent diagnosis.

LSD and schizophrenia were connected in the minds of the experimenters because it was first used to simulate psychotic episodes for the researchers themselves, to better understand their patients. Though it is now believed by most that organic schizophrenia and this induced state are very different, the connection remained and LSD began to be explored as a treatment for schizophrenia. In a field dominated by Freud's psychoanalysis, psychologists thought that the same anxiety that induced psychosis in some test subjects would release repressed material in others, helping them to deal with the roots of their problems. Patients on LSD experienced either an intensification of their symptoms, no change at all, or a strange mix of intensification and normalization of behaviors. Mute patients would often laugh-- or cry-- hysterically for hours on end, sometimes bouncing between the two at the mercy of strong mood swings. However, most schizophrenic patients seemed relatively immune to the effects of LSD, and therefore it was an ineffective treatment. A few researchers were inspired by these studies decided to try their luck with LSD therapy for the "childhood schizophrenics." They believed that the disinhibition may make Autistic children more "present" and better able to assimilate social understanding.

Freedman conducted a study on twelve moderate-to-severe cases, ages five to eleven. The observed effects, which were were either physical and measurable or inferred through body language because of the patients' lack of speech capabilities to describe their experience, included flushing of the face, pupil dilation, catatonia, lack of coordination, lack of appetite, exploration of new bodily sensations, increased desire for physical contact, mood swings, hallucinations, panic, relaxation, freer use of language (an increase in quantity of communication but not quality; no new words or phrases were used), and (my favorite!) "dizziness due to whirling." The researchers had a problem with continuing the treatment because tolerance built up so quickly, but the research was promising. One eight-year-old girl responded very well to treatments over a year's worth of weekly sessions; the severe behavior problems were cured in a young boy; and another ten-year-old girl improved after only three months.

Another study found a greater rate of success by administering half-doses twice daily. It raised the social maturity rating of the younger children but was less beneficial to the older children. Children who were not Autistic, but actually had schizophrenia, showed much more improvement with LSD therapy than did adult schizophrenics.

Though LSD has worked for Autistic children in the past, I wouldn't say that I recommend it for everyone with Autism. My brother, for example, is too high-functioning, anxious, and self-aware to end up with anything besides unpleasant confusion and/or a bad trip-- pot brownies might suit him better. However, I know kids with more severe symptoms, who would be more likely to benefit from LSD therapy. Those who are further removed from the everyday reality of the rest of us may be better equipped to deal with LSD therapy as just another new experience in a world that barely makes sense to them as it is. This is another promising field of psychiatric research that has been entirely stemmed by the insane War on Drugs, which is not only punishing recreational users, but alcoholics, PTSD-sufferers, AIDS patients, and Autistic children.

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder is when visual characteristics of a trip last for much longer than the trip itself, until after the chemical has been removed from your system. Contrary to flashbacks, it's always present and relatively permanent. It is most commonly related to LSD use, but that may just be because acid is the most commonly used hallucinogen. Those that are genetically predisposed to HPPD can begin experiencing it very early on in their drug use, but in others it sets in much later in the game, and therefore seems to be unrelated to the frequency or number of trips one takes.

Common sights of HPPD sufferers include halos or auras around objects, changes in dimension and color, a difficulty in distinguishing between colors, trouble reading because of "misbehaving letters," geometric patterns where there are none, flashes of color, movement in peripheral vision, or TV-like "static" on monochrome surfaces. The symptoms can be made worse by fatigue, drug use, a sudden change in the visual environment (like walking into a brightly-lit room from the dark), or simply paying too much attention to it.

Many people have never heard of HPPD, or if they must seek treatment they are too embarrassed to admit to having used hallucinogens, and therefore the statistics on its prevalence are probably incorrect. This is another good reason that hallucinogen use should be legal or at least socially acceptable: research could be done, and people with disorders of this sort could get the treatment they need. Luckily, many people don't need to get treatment, because HPPD often fades over time of its own accord.

Now, don't be like me and assume that your brain is broken just because the rainbows around lights at night seem suddenly really noticeable. HPPD is only diagnosed when the disturbances are so severe that the patient cannot ignore it. Like other psychiatric syndromes, a requirement for diagnosis is that it impairs normal functioning. To be fair, I had no idea that light halos were a common occurrence until I asked my boyfriend, who verified that he saw them too. :)

HPPD raises some interesting questions about how drugs affect us. One common theory is that hallucinogens permanently affect the nervous system, creating less sensory gating (like Huxley described in The Doors of Perception). This leads us to be more open to receiving sensory signals that have always been there, but are usually filtered out. There was also an interesting study that I read about that showed that those who use hallucinogens have a lowered ability to distinguish between colors, and to distinguish between a very fast strobe and a continually-shining light. I found this to be the opposite of what I've experienced: my drug use has made me appreciate color so much more, and when I'm high I can even see the strobing in cheap fluorescent lights, which is super annoying. Anyone else have a different story?

I was also kind of surprised that HPPD only includes the visual aspect of hallucinogens. It seems to me that other aspects of a trip could last too, but I guess people with that are just called "crazy." :)

Sources:
Wikipedia

Erowid

Flashbacks?

Flashbacks were something that I didn't believe in until a close & trustworthy friend told me about his. He was sitting in Denny's late at night as is his habit, reading and drinking coffee with whiskey from his flask mixed in, when the walls started to undulate. He sat back and let it pass. For him, it wasn't a negative experience, but a transitory curiosity.

Flashbacks are a re-occurrence of the effects of a hallucinogen, usually short and mild. They usually occur within a few days after a trip, and seem to be triggered by alcohol, marijuana, stress, caffeine, fatigue, or a history of mental illness. (Though as far as I recall my friend had not tripped recently when his flashback occurred, but it may have been related to the whiskey.) Most users (70%) never experience one, and for all the fuss that is made about it in anti-drug literature, flashbacks only have a 20-30% chance of occurring (Wikipedia).

Though science hasn't yet presented us with a definitive explanation for this phenomenon, it has been proven that they are not caused by residual chemicals trapped in the spinal cord. LSD dissolves in water very easily, and therefore gets washed out of your system within 24 hours (Shulgin). Edward M. Brecher has a theory, which makes sense to me, that flashbacks occur with any extremely emotional event (whether positive or negative) and so it is of no surprise that LSD use would result in them as well (XS4All).

It's possible that the key to flashbacks will also provide insight into the mystery of HPPD, or Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder. I'll write a more in-depth post on that later, but for now, it's a syndrome that is defined by certain symptoms of a trip lasting a very, very long time (or permanently).

Many people find the threat of flashbacks a reason to avoid LSD, because of the unpredictability of the experience. However, in my opinion, if you're having a flashback you'll understand what's going on and be able to ride it out. If you were okay while tripping (which is likely) you'll most likely be okay during a flashback. If you have a history of mental illness, you shouldn't be doing acid in the first place.

It seems that although flashbacks do occur, they are a purely psychological experience, and don't pose any threat. Therefore, anti-drug literature that treats LSD as an insidious specter that will haunt you for the rest of your life is entirely incorrect. However, he may show up every once in a while to say "hi."

Synesthesia: Part 1 (Just the Facts, Ma'am)

(Since synesthesia is such a complex topic, I'm going to divide it up into 2 posts. This first one is mainly a reposting of a project I did senior year of high school and will deal with the science of the subject, and the second one will be about my own experiences.)

Synesthesia is an interesting neurological condition in which stimulation of one sense causes an inappropriate stimulation in another one. Information from one sense (like sound) is taken into the brain, but this information also stimulates another sense (like taste), causing synesthetes to “taste sound” or “smell sight” or “see sound.”

It’s not a matter of metaphorical association; it’s involuntary and automatic and very vivid. These experiences are consistent for synesthetes, meaning that if the sound of a french horn tastes like chicken one day, they will report the french horn tasting like chicken weeks, months, and years later. This is the main test of synesthesia—impressions and associations remain basically the same over time. Many synesthetes don’t know that their sensory impressions are unusual, and often find them pleasant or neutral.

There are many ways that the senses can be crossed, and therefore there are many types of synesthesia. Synesthetes normally only have one or a few types. The most common form is called grapheme/color synesthesia: people with this type hear or see words or letters in color. For example, one might associate the letter T with the color orange, or G with green. It is also common for sound to produce color: flutes are yellow, or Beethoven’s Fifth is undulating green and brown stripes. “Ordinal linguistic personification” is when time segments, like days of the week or months, are viewed as having personalities. A “Spatial sequence” or “number-form” synesthete views time as a three-dimensional shape. A newly-documented form of synesthesia, “visual motion/sound” is when a movement that is seen results in a sound being heard. Almost any combination of senses can occur, however, and there are many more types than just these.

Synesthetes can also be broken down further into two more categories: “associators” and “projectors.” Projectors experience their sensory impressions outside their bodies, as if it was projected on a screen in front of them. Someone with projecting grapheme/color synesthesia will see the letter D on the page as green instead of black, or someone with projecting sound/color synesthesia will see a large blue square at arm’s length when they hear a trumpet. Associators, the more common type, experience their sensory oddities in their heads. Associating grapheme/color synesthetes will read a black and white page and know that it is black and white, but will always picture the letter S in their head as yellow, and Z as purple.

Though it is believed to be a genetic condition, synesthesia is also sometimes reported as a temporary experience by those under the influence of psychedelic drugs, stroke victims, people having a temporal lobe epilepsy seizure, or as a result of blindness or deafness.

Though the cause of synesthesia has not yet been identified, there are a few theories about why it occurs.

1. One theory suggests that the brains of synesthetes are literally cross-wired, and that when the area of the brain that normally receives information from the eye, for example, is stimulated, the hearing-area of the brain is activated as well. This theory has been verified by brain scans.
2. Others think that in synesthetes, when the senses receive information the limbic system, which is the center of emotion in the brain, is affected. The impressions of the synesthete are caused by seemingly unrelated fragments of memory that pop up in the mind.
3. In the years following our birth, the number of brain-connections, called synapses, that we have decreases dramatically. A third group suggests that this “brain-pruning” of unnecessary systems does not occur or occurs less in synesthetes, meaning that they have extra connections, leading their brain to make strange associations.
4. The existence of temporary synesthesia lead researchers to a fourth conclusion: that in synesthetes the “feedback” of the brain, which is usually stopped, is left to run amok, meaning that the impulses are free to inhabit various parts of the brain.

Synesthesia has been linked to a chromosome associated with autism and epilepsy, and the three conditions sometimes occur together. Synesthetes are more likely to be creative people, including artists of every variety, and often lack ability in math and a sense of direction. Many also report that their synesthetic impressions improve their memory. For example, if one notices that a friend’s phone number is all yellow and orange numbers, they are more likely to remember it because the colors are so vivid.

Synesthesia is of interest to researchers both for its own sake and because understanding these anomalies will give scientists clues as to how the normal brain works, and how the average person’s sense experience happens. There are many facets of the brain that are still not understood, and Synesthesia research is helping us to understand what the brain is all about.

Synesthesia has been part of the scientific and artistic consciousness for hundreds of years, even though science has only been making strides in understanding it in the last century. Throughout the ages, many artists have created mixed-media art that reproduces synesthetic impressions, and many artists are synesthetes that are inspired by their impressions.

The Greeks called the timbre of music its “color” and tried to quantify and classify it for study. Isaac Newton and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe independently proposed that musical tones and color tones shared frequencies, showing that they thought that the two senses were linked and interrelated. Newton wrote that the spectrum of colors and the musical octave coincide.

In the early twentieth century, Alexander Scriabin made a “color organ,” a piano with colored keys, to accompany his symphonic work “Prometheus: Poem of Fire.” Though he was very specific in his directions of what key should be what color, he was not a synesthete himself. His invention followed a pattern he constructed by combining the color wheel and the circle of fifths. However, the instrument never caught on, and the piece was rarely performed using it even during the composer’s lifetime. This is the most famous example of a color organ, but by no means the first or the last. Many varieties have been built. Before the nineteenth century, color organs were made that would cause colored pieces of paper fly into the air when a certain key was pressed. With the invention of the gas light, color organs began to make use of the new technology, and became more complex.

Carol J. Steen is a contemporary artist who uses her Synesthesia to create her artwork. This painting is a representation of what she saw once during a visit to an acupuncturist as her eyes were closed. Her strongest form of synesthesia is touch to color, shape, or movement, but she sees the alphabet in color as well. She first realized something about her was different when she commented on how pretty the letter “A” was with its shade of pink, and a classmate told her she was weird. At age twenty, she brought up the yellow color of the number five at the dinner table, and while her father agreed, her brother and mother were confused. She discovered the name for her unique skill from an NPR program. Now, she sees orange when she feels pain, and has used this skill to help her dentist identify a tooth that needed a root canal. She co-founded the American Synesthesia Association, which focuses on education and research about the condition.

Photographer Marcia Smilack was first told about Synesthesia in college, by a friend who was a psychology major. She was shocked to finally understand why the first note she had played on the piano was green, and why sound always created sight for her. She takes a picture of any scene that inspires in her a feeling of touch or a taste, which are mainly reflections in water. She took the above photograph when the red of the roof felt like velvet to her, and the white felt soft like Santa’s beard.

This is a painting by Anne Salz, a Dutch artist and musician with synesthesia. The inspiration for this painting came from Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins.

One of the best and best-known examples of synesthesia in art is the Disney movie Fantasia. It features eight well-known instrumental pieces accompanied by animation. Though it wasn’t very popular at the time of its release, it has grown into a classic and has been hailed for its avant-garde qualities.

Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was a Russian painter, born in 1866, who painted the first modern abstract art and heard musical notes as he painted. For example, yellow sounded to him like middle C on a piano or a blast of trumpets. He said that different combinations of colors produced chords, and this helped him paint.

Though Piet Mondrian was not a synesthete himself, his abstract art often has synesthetic elements. For example, the inspiration for the above picture is sometimes said to be a map of a busy subway, and sometimes the music that he liked to dance to. Either way, this painting has a strong rhythmic component, which cannot often be said about visual art.

Next time: my own experiences as a synesthete.