<story><title>One in five of us may &apos;hear&apos; flashes of light</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/17/listen-with-your-eyes-one-in-five-of-us-may-hear-flashes-of-light-synaesthesia</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>gilgoomesh</author><text>I think synaesthesia is the wrong interpretation of this phenomenon.&lt;p&gt;I hear flashes like that as a soft rush of blood around my eardrum. I&amp;#x27;m pretty sure it&amp;#x27;s just the &amp;quot;acoustic reflex&amp;quot; (the muscles in my middle ear tightening in case there&amp;#x27;s a loud sound incoming). Obviously there isn&amp;#x27;t a loud noise here but like an involuntary blink, my body doesn&amp;#x27;t know that.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Acoustic_reflex&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Acoustic_reflex&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>One in five of us may &apos;hear&apos; flashes of light</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/17/listen-with-your-eyes-one-in-five-of-us-may-hear-flashes-of-light-synaesthesia</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>travisl12</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m actually the opposite. In that I see flashes of light when I hear sounds (when my eyes are closed in a dark place). Happens all the time when I&amp;#x27;m laying in bed before I fall asleep at night.</text></comment>