I have synesthesia. Anybody else out there with it? According to almighty Wikipedia, synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. I see music. Vowels have color as do the different days of the week. True for me: Some synesthetes often report that they were unaware their experiences were unusual until they realized other people did not have them. I may have been in my 30s before I realized this. Most synesthetes report that their experiences are pleasant or neutral. Yes. Wikipedia says: Synesthetes are very likely to participate in creative activities. There are several types of synesthesia. Though I have grapheme color synesthesia I do not have it to the extent that I could, for example, immediately pick out all the the letter O-s on a page because letter O-s are perceived as blue. I do perceive the letter O as blue but not to the extent that it overwhelms my seeing it as a letter of black ink. Some synesthetes see characters just as others do (in whichever color actually displayed), yet simultaneously perceive colors as associated to each one. For me it is more of an understanding that the letter O is blue. Mondays are blue for me also. Tuesdays are grey. Wednesdays are yellow. Thursdays are brown. Fridays and Saturdays both are red. Sundays? I forget. Blue also, I think. It was far stronger when I was young. The month of June is blue also but the months and their colors are no longer strong. While different individuals usually do not report the same colors for all letters and numbers, studies with large numbers of synesthetes find some commonalities across letters (e.g. A is likely to be red). I did not know that. However A is indeed red for me. It sounds red. E sounds yellow. I also have chromesthesia regarding music and which seems related to the grapheme synesthesia. Chromesthesia is the association of sounds with colors. For some, everyday sounds such as doors opening, cars honking, or people talking can trigger seeing colors. Not for me, Mine only has to do with music. In music, the key of A is also red, E is still yellow. D is blue. C is brown. This was very strong when I was first starting to learn music. I dont think green shows up anywhere, however. I also have strong visualizations of musical structure as geometric forms arranged in a linear fashion hanging in space. Is this spatial sequence synesthesia? Grapheme color synesthesia and chromesthesia are reportedly common among us synesthetes. I am glad I dont have lexical gustatory synesthesia: This is another rare form of synesthesia where certain tastes are experienced when hearing words. For example, the word basketball might taste like waffles. The documentary Derek Tastes Like Earwax gets its name from this phenomenon, in references to pub owner James Wannerton who experiences this particular sensation whenever he hears the name spoken. I think I also have tactile visual synesthesia which seems to be very rare. If I get a massage, my mind will flood with visual imagery of landscapes as if viewed from a plane. Places Ive never seen before: often mountainous islands on an ocean. Its very nice.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:20:02 +0000