Synesthetes inherit a biological propensity for hyperconnecting brain neurons, 联觉者遗传了在大脑神经元之间建立超链接的生物倾向，

　　but then must be exposed to cultural artifacts, such as calendars, food names, and alphabets. 但之后必须接触文化产品，例如日历、食物的名字，还有字母表。

　　The amazing thing is that a single nucleotide change in the sequence of one's DNA alters perception. 令人惊奇的是，在DNA序列中一个核苷酸的变化就可以改变一个人认知世界的方式。

　　In this way, synesthesia provides a path to understanding subjective differences, 通过这种方式，联觉提供了一种途径来研究主观认知的区别，

　　how two people can see the same thing differently. 以及两个人如何对同样的事物产生不同的认知。

　　Take Sean, who prefers blue tasting food, such as milk, oranges, and spinach. 拿肖恩来说，他喜欢蓝色味道的食物，像牛奶、橙子，还有菠菜。

　　The gene heightens normally occurring connections between the taste area in his frontal lobe and the color area further back. 基因会增强额叶中味觉区和较靠后的色觉区之间的正常连接。

　　But suppose in someone else that the gene acted in non-sensory areas. 但假如另外一个人的基因在非感觉区作用。

　　You would then have the ability to link seemingly unrelated things, 他就会拥有连接看似无关事物的能力，

　　which is the definition of metaphor, seeing the similar in the dissimilar. 这就是象征的定义，从不相似中发现相似。

　　Not surprisingly, synesthesia is more common in artists who excel at making metaphors, 自然地，联觉更频繁地出现在善于运用比拟的艺术家中，

　　like novelist Vladimir Nabokov, painter David Hockney, and composers Billy Joel and Lady Gaga. 像小说家弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫，画家大卫·霍克尼，还有作曲家比利·乔尔以及Lady Gaga。

　　But why do the rest of us non-synesthetes understand metaphors like "sharp cheese" or "sweet person"? 但为何我们这些非联觉者会明白像“锐利的芝士”，“甜蜜的人”之类的比喻？

　　It so happens that sight, sound, and movement already map to one another so closely, 碰巧，视觉、听觉还有运动已经联系得十分紧密，

　　that even bad ventriloquists convince us that the dummy is talking. 即使是拙劣的口技表演者也能让我们相信人偶真的在说话。

　　Movies, likewise, can convince us that the sound is coming from the actors' mouths rather than surrounding speakers. 类似地，电影让我们相信声音是来自演员的嘴巴，而不是周围的音响。

　　So, inwardly, we're all synesthetes, outwardly unaware of the perceptual couplings happening all the time. 所以，在内心深处，我们都是联觉者，在表面上却不知晓感觉的联结每时每刻都在发生。

　　Cross-talk in the brain is the rule, not the exception. 大脑里信息的互相干扰是常态，而不是例外。

　　And that sounds like a sweet deal to me! 而在我听来，这真是一件甜蜜的事！