Richard E. Cytowic, MD trained in neurology, neuropsychology, and ophthalmology. He received his BA in chemistry from Duke University, and his MD from Wake Forest’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine. He later trained at London’s National Hospital for Nervous Diseases and George Washington University before founding Capitol Neurology, a private clinic. He lives in Washington DC.

Dr. Cytowic is best known for rediscovering synesthesia in 1980 and returning it to the scientific mainstream where it is now recognized as important to how we perceive. Fr years, colleagues refused to accept synesthesia (British spelling, synaesthesia) as real and warned that pursuing it would ruin his career because it was too weird and New Age. They had the typical reaction of orthodoxy to something it can’t understand. Today, researchers in 15 countries are writing Ph.D.  theses and scholarly papers on this fascinating trait

We currently have a top-to-bottom science of synesthesia, from DNA and synapses, to child development, brain imaging, and psychology up to overt behavior that includes art and creativity—all described in the book with David Eagleman, “Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia.”

The New Jersey native is the son of a physician and an artist, and has been a Resident Fellow at the Hambidge Center and Virginia Center for Creative Arts, both Southern artist colonies.

Dr. Cytowic’s work is the subject of numerous documentaries ranging from the BBC and PBS to National Geographic. His many media appearances include Good Morning America, All Things Considered, and Voice of America.

.Richard E Cytowic's Profile | 
rc7653a@american.edu