What Is It Like To Have Synesthesia?

Can you imagine if each word had its own colour, or you could 'see' different types of music?

Synesthetes can experience the ordinary world in some pretty extraordinary ways. In this video Jamie Ward explains the variety of different ways in synesthesia can manifest itself, and what is happening in the brains of those who experience it.

Jamie Ward is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. He has written books a number of books about neuroscience and synesthesia.

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[kmdn]

I remember being a little kid and holding two Skittles in my hand- one orange and one green and saying to my mom "Look, it's 6 and 7!" She was then inevitably confused so I tried to explain my comment because I thought she just wasn't understanding at first. So I told her that the Skittles were like numbers because their colors are the same- orange is 6 and green is 7! Needless to say, she then worried I was mentally challenged in some way.

[sanmoon]

As a synesthete with an aphantasic parent, it’s fun to discuss the differences in how we experience the world.

[water]

Synesthesia is weird. My form is that things "feel" like colors to me. Pain is a dull red-violet, my covers are green, though I didn't know what synesthesia was for the longest time, so I didn't know other people don't see the world that way.

[KyleClements]

Those animations of what music might *look* like is exactly what music *feels* like (to me at least).

[alexafaulkison]

I saw a girl on tik tok who was seemingly speaking nonsense and I completely understood what she was saying. Another in the comments said she has synesthesia. So I took to YouTube and I am filled with relief and joy that this is a real thing. My life is so complete. I’m so excited about this.

[lowwastehighmelanin]

One of my friends has really intense synesthesia and uses it to compose her music. I’ve asked her what the different colors are for her music and what those colors feel like for her and it really makes listening to it a much richer experience.

[JUMALATION]

My mom never understood my synesthesia at first when I insisted on grabbing a precise color pen for a certain letter. Then she talked to my grandma who has a "light" version of it and realized something weird was going on. I didn't realize this phenomenon had a name until my early teens. Now 10+ years later I tend to not make a big deal out of it but tell people if they somehow find out (I remember text and numbers really well thanks to their colors and people sometimes freak out)

[gab]

When I listen to music I always like to imagine a story behind it, it doesn't matter if the lyrics don't match the "animation", I go for the instrumentals and imagine all kind of stories, my favorite kind of songs are the "cyberpunk" ones, I imagine different types of fights and it's really amazing, also watching lots of movies and animes has helped me to improve the way I imagine the stories. I would like to be an animator and illustrator so I guess having synesthesia has been a bless to me!

[aekor]

I always associate random aches or pains with colors shapes and textures. They make perfect sense to me, but when I try to explain what I see to other people they probably think I’m insane

[rosyglasses]

My child has this . We never knew because he never said anything . He thought it was normal until he went to college and they talked about it . That’s when he realizes not everyone sees letters in color. I don’t know he did . . He is very smart and musical . His memory is incredible, almost scary .

[Moongazer]

I am a natural Synesthete since childhood. In my opinion, it is more an extra sense or a gift, the best gift I ever had.

[breezy]

My mother, sister and I all have it. Mine is the strongest. Every word, song, letter, number etc., are all different colors. It's helped me with math, remember phone numbers, remembering names... I can't imagine seeing nothing but black. Would it be black? So crazy. I feel so blessed to be gifted with this. I always forget that others don't think like this. I've had it my whole life and it's just what's normal for me!

[izzymatsuyama]

THE DRUM BEAT VISUAL WAS ABSOLUTELY ON POINT FOR ME

[ssegura]

This is exactly how I experience music. Its a physical phenomenon for me, almost tangible

[weepingangle]

My mom has this and didn’t know it until her mid 40s when I was telling her about a character in a book I read had it and I described it to her. Suddenly her whole world made sense. She can’t drive through construction zones because the horses have blinking lights that make noise and aren’t in synch. She doesn’t eat green vegetables because they taste green (which might be a normal explanation for a picky eater or something but she says green m&ms taste the same so she won’t eat those either). Having a clock blinking in the house after a power outage used to drive her batty because she could hear it in other rooms. We all thought she was just a little mad until we found out about this

[seahippies]

..."And to hear the sun,

What a thing to believe,

But it's all around,

If we could but perceive"....

[WhenTheSunLordsFell]

i “imagine” full animated sequences when listening to music how vivid do you experiences have to be for synesthesia

[prayatna]

I don't particularly see colours when listening to music but i do see movement of patterns and shapes and this movement travels throughout my body. I thought everyone was like that.

[mommar]

I became a therapist before I realized that my senses/perceptions may not be experienced by everyone. It has opened a whole world of exploration for me and in my work with the lives of others. Great video! Thank you

[emmagoldstein]

I can go thru my entire playlist and tell you exactly what color each song is, which is such a cool experience but also makes some album covers infuriating because they are SO WRONG lol