What Is Synesthesia?

It’s true – some people hear colors, or taste words. But what produces synesthesia?

Have you ever heard a color or smelled a sound? If so, don’t worry: you’re not alone. Instead, you’re part of a group I consider superpowered- you have synesthesia.

Or you’ve done some crazy drugs. Maybe that’s a different episode?

Anyway, when people with synesthesia experience input from one sense, it results in the experience of another sense. So, if you’re a synesthete like author Vladimir Nabokov, you would associate letters with colors – grapheme-color synesthesia.

And there are different types of synesthesia. Nabokov called his “color hearing”. This grapheme-color stuff is the most common type, but synesthesia can occur between just about any combination of senses or cognitive pathways.

And not everyone will experience the same type of synesthesia the same way. So while the soft “ah” sound always seems fire-engine red to one synesthete, it may be cobalt blue for others. Some people with this condition see music – which sounds kind of beautiful, when you think about it.

There are less common types, such as lexical-gustatory. People with this condition taste certain flavors, dishes or entire meals based on a picture, word or sound. Smells could have colors and shapes, too. The list goes on.

So, this is all fascinating, but how do people get it? Researchers are still working on that one, but they believe the condition tends to be somewhat inherited or genetic, as about 40% of synesthetes have a close relative with synesthesia. Most synesthetes recall having the condition for as long as they can remember.

It might sound like people have just made mnemonic connections with sounds, colors or so on, but research shows it is a genuine sensory phenomenon, rather than a memory exercise.

For example, if we drew the number five all over a piece of paper – scattered with a few twos, forming a triangle – most people would have a hard time seeing it. They’d have to look closely to search for the twos, and then slowly construct the shape. But a grapheme-color synesthete can see this triangle almost instantly.

Researchers think that synesthesia is a kind of cross-wiring in the brain. In grapheme-color synesthetes, seeing a number stimulates your grapheme region and the area of your visual cortex that responds to color stimuli.

One theory is that there are increased neural connections in the brain of synesthetes that could've been the result of less "neural pruning" while in utero. Even cooler is that there might be actual anatomical differences in the brains of synesthetes, like increased white and gray matter in the brain.

One bit of sad news for all the non-synesthetes. Although one study did find that some exposure to color-letters built up their association, the effect didn't last. So people can’t just “catch” synesthesia.

But, hey, it’s not like all synesthetes have a great time. It can be uncomfortable to see a number in the "wrong" color. And one lexical-gustatory synesthete also said that if a certain name doesn't taste “right” to him, he has a hard time liking the person it's attached to.

Kevin.

And it’s time to talk about drugs. Don’t act like you didn’t know this was coming. Hallucinogens might be one way that synesthesia can be "manufactured." Several drugs can produce vivid synesthesia in non-synesthetes, which might be a key to understanding the condition.

One researcher has posited that in non-synesthetes, information in a multisensory area travels back easily to its single-sense area, but in synesthetes it gets a bit mixed up along the way. Hallucinogens may temporarily alter the user’s neurochemistry, confusing those existing connections.

I mean, let’s face it, going to a concert might be pretty amazing for people with visually-associated synesthesia.

SOURCES:

[toxicgraphix]

I wrote a poem about "hearing colors" in English class back in the 70's, the teacher had instructed us to write about anything we wanted, it didn't matter what we wrote, but we had to write about
When I got the assignment back from the teacher there was a big fat F- covering the whole paper in red, along with a note " YOU CAN'T HEAR COLORS!", .... In the first place it was a poem? Last I know metaphors were allowable in poems? ...WTF....In the second place the assignment was to just write anything you want? .... In the third place.... I CAN hear

[annej]

it makes me so angry when people think we literally see numbers as certain colors like on paper. no. it's in our head, we don't physically see it.

[Camelworks]

When ever I drink water late at night it tastes like liquorice. Then I discovered it was my toothpaste.

[juditharowland]

I'm an artist and from the very beginning, I could hear my drawings as they evolved.

[BrainStuffShow]

It’s true – some people hear colors, or taste words. But what produces synesthesia?

[-lore-]

I have synesthesia and had a hard time learning French in school XD
"jaune" means yellow and "mauve" is a sort of purple and I always mix them up because I see "J" in purple and "M" in yellow XD

[jonathanblack]

I realized something was different about my experience when I was on train in Lisbon. While standing in the subway I was looking at the Portuguese ads around me and the colors in the letters shined brightly. Seeing the colors was nothing new, but for the first time in my life, on this day, I wondered to myself if others had this same experience. I asked my brother a few months later if he too saw letters with colors. He said no. I still had no idea what synesthesia was, but I realized that what I experienced was not normal. Two years later, I told my roommate about my experience and he referred me to an ABC documentary about the mind which mentioned synesthesia. It was then I realized that I was a synesthete. I'm happy to have this condition.

[mounne]

So by this logic, Lulu from League of Legends is Synesthetic.

One of her voice lines is "Yep. That tasted purple"

[helenarenee]

This was on my recommendations and I thought “wait this isn’t normal?” Now I know I have synesthesia

[tirilfossheim]

Every letter, number, name (etc..) have their own gender, personality, and colour. Like whenever I open a math book I see letters, and numbers chatting along i groups, and if I have to remember a long number, I can just read it once and I'll remember it for months because of the colours. I also see colours and patterns whenever I hear sounds, smell smells, or get any type of touch/feeling. (This isn't just fun though... Like imagine going to a concert and not being able to see the band because of all the colours that are in the way..)
(Sorry for bad english...)

[drowningcrown]

I have spatial sequence synesthesia. The days of the week, month, date and years have their own place in a blank/ transparent matrix around me. Years by themselves are categorized by the century each having their own "wall". ex: the 1900s are listed on a "sheet" 0-10 and then the next line 11-19 etc.

The 1800s are further away from me than the 1900s on so on. The walls are lined up chronologically relative to my current position (the present), the walls are like a hallway and only one will face me if I am thinking about it and go to it. I love history partially bc of my extra sense. Certain years make me feel happy I like their position on the chart. Its easy for me to remember the release dates of movies and my favorite songs.

Days of the week are simple. Sunday at the top, saturday at the bottom, and whatever day it is thats where my body is on the list. I can stand on the day almost like a rung on a ladder. If you say a day of the week my body will go there on the list. Its an automatic response. Same goes for the months of the year but that list is goes by season and is funky looking. Jan- Jun (I think I do this because its still chilly in June for Michigan lol) is listed like a ladder, Jul-Sept (summer vacation) are listed horizontally next to the previous list like a monkey bar, and Oct-Dec are connected under the monkey bar like a ladder underneath September.

[Grace_Creation]

I love having synesthesia, you perceive music and the world in amazing ways. It's funny because I don't know what non-colorless music sounds like, I wish other people could experience it. These are the colors I hear for each musical key:
C - Orange
D - White
E - Green
F- Yellow
G - Red
A - Mix of white and green
B - Pale green
All black keys are shades of purple and sometimes blue

[EsotericEclectic]

I have had this my whole life. I hadn't told anyone until recently when I shared it with my wife. I wasn't embarrassed it was just something I kept to myself. It was one thing no one knew about me. I didn't know what it was called until I looked it up a couple years ago. Mine is grapheme-color synesthesia. I see colors when I hear words, names, letters and numbers. Even songs have colors for me. It's in my head though. Every time I hear something a color comes to mind. It definitely makes life interesting. It can be challenging to identify what I see in my head though.

[trinityt]

I've got auditory-tactile synesthesia, it's where you feel sound, it's the least common type of synesthesia. I didn't know I had it until I researched this stuff.

[RedAngelSophia]

I had Synesthesia as a small child - but it seems to have pretty much gone away as I grew older. Sometimes, I miss it.

[edwardbliss]

I was actually born with 2 types. The first is audio-visual where I see 3-dimensional shapes timed to music. The second is neuromotor where I feel a slight jolt or shock in my body to musical notes. They're actually common on their own, but having the combination of the 2 is quite rare

[danielafischerlehner]

I have synesthesia for as long as I can remember. Felt great when I stumbled across the term on the internet for I thought it's always a weird thing that just I have. I have several kinds of it actually.... Love the video!

[Bamshi]

I've always smelled a strong metallic/chemical or bloody scent whenever I've looked at realistic diagrams or pictures of muscles in anatomy books, like when they take off all the skin on a person and just show the muscle layer. It's weird. Like I knew what every individual tissue fibre smelled like without being presented with my own leg like a victim from Hannibal lol.

[thejmekold]

This isn't synesthesia but I've always associated numbers or basic words (days of the week, names) with colors or personalities. For example, 7 is very mean to all the other numbers and its little brother is 3, who is arrogant. 2 is protective of 1 in a cute way, 1 likes 2 but 2 is oblivious. 8 is annoyed at everyone and is quite sarcastic, 9 is sort of bossy. 10 is sort of like a teacher to all the numbers below it. 19 smokes and takes drugs.
Tuesday is orange while Wednesday is green. The name Mike is red. Lewis is blue.

[thelovelymissjones]

I am so happy and relieved! I just learned about this today! I was so CONFUSED my whole life! I just thought people didn't process as quickly but now I know this is a thing. A difference. Now i feel understood. I could cry. The whole world has changed!