chromesthesia /krō′misthē″zhə/ [Gk, chroma + aisthesis, feeling] , 1. the color sense that depends on the mixture of wavelengths in the light that enters the eye and the response of the different types of retinal cones associated with color vision. The human eye can distinguish hundreds of different colors that are combinations of the basic light wavelengths for red, green, and blue. Some of the retinal cones can be stimulated by the whole visual spectrum, and variable stimulation of all the cones can produce all the color sensations known to humans. Changes in the pigments within the cones affect color vision, and defects in the cones cause various kinds of color blindness. 2. an abnormal condition characterized by the confusion of other senses, such as taste and smell, with imagined sensations of color. Compare chromatopsia.
