Thread: Anyone have Synesthesia

I think I'm a synesthete as I can see certain sounds as colors - normally blue.

I was just wondering if there are any other synesthetes on this site or if anyone else has any other information about synesthesia.

I would recommend you V.S.Ramachandran. He's a neurologist and did
a lot on synesthesia (also phantom limb, and schizophrenia). So some
of his talks are not all about synesthesia...

V.S. Ramachandran at Beyond Belief 2007 Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-fj...om=PL&index=30

This might be what you're looking for. Enjoy

Originally Posted by dajo

V.S. Ramachandran at Beyond Belief 2007 Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb-fj...om=PL&index=30

This might be what you're looking for. Enjoy

Wow, thanks for posting that. Very interesting video, learned a lot.

I have had spiritual crisises where I have seen sound coming out of speakers. I could see it as shape better than color but blue was one of the colors I could depict along with green & yellow. It was really trippy.

Hijo, that just sounds like a hallucination to me.

grapheme/numerical-colour. so, I see a different colour for every letter and every number.

Originally Posted by nerve

grapheme/numerical-colour. so, I see a different colour for every letter and every number.

^

For the first ten numbers and letters, this is how they are depicted in my
head (as an example, it applies to all numbers and the rest of the alphabet).

1 a
2 b
3 c
4 d
5 e
6 f
7 g
8 h
9 i
10 j

I think I've made a post on this before, but I had only listed the numbers.
Almost every multiple of 5 is black, and most numbers that have a 2 in them
are blue-ish whatever. Never gave this too much thought, it's minor for me
and isn't a glaring thing when I think about any number or letter in particular.

I'm sure others experience this to much, much greater degrees.

I remember I played "Blind Man's Bluff" with my nieces (It's like hide and seek only your blindfolded when you're the seeker). I was the seeker and I was always able to keep track of my nieces whereabouts even when I was blindfolded because whenever they made a sound I saw a flash of blue and the blue was strongest and brightest when I was facing them.

And before you say, the blindfold wasn't see through.

I also see blue light sometimes from the TV speakers and such.

Originally Posted by Invader

^

For the first ten numbers and letters, this is how they are depicted in my
head (as an example, it applies to all numbers and the rest of the alphabet).

1 a
2 b
3 c
4 d
5 e
6 f
7 g
8 h
9 i
10 j

wow that is so different from what I see:

1 a
2 b
3 c
4 d
5 e
6 f
7 g
8 h
9 i
10 j

@People, who have it:
Are you glad that you do or does it annoy you?

I'm glad I have it, for one thing it's interesting to bring up in conversation...it has never annoyed me, I didn't even realize I had it until a friend brought it up one day, and I was very surprised. I had actually suspected that I had sound - color synesthesia, because whenever I listened to music with my CD player (which was often at the time) the songs would seem to have a color. I never really looked into it, but of course later I realized it was the track number, not the music, that had colour. XD

I'm also glad I have it because it is fun to use in art. I already very much enjoy vocabulary and reading, and it gives words another dimension of beauty. (this is one reason it didn't occur to me that "rottingteeth" is not a pretty screen name - the colours overwhelmed the imagery.)

it never gets in the way. although I always "see" the colours when I read, I don't actually see them, they still appear black. I just sortof "know" what colour each letter is, I'm just...aware of it somehow. it's strange o_o

Originally Posted by Noogah

Hijo, that just sounds like a hallucination to me.

No, it's not hallucination. Synesthesia is scientifically proven.
Watch the video I posted. It explains exactly what and why.

@People, who have it:
Are you glad that you do or does it annoy you?

sorry to bump an old thread up, but i'm a synesthete with a lot of knowledge on the subject and wanted to throw in my two cents.

first of all, experiencing synesthesia isn't purely visual. you can imagine smells and sounds. some people even imagine tastes. the things you 'see' aren't in front of you and are not physical at all - they're just in your head. i mean, some people see it right in front of them but that's uncommon and i imagine would get very annoying.

i have multiple forms of synesthesia but there's another thing about it that makes it unique - the things you see or hear while experiencing synesthesia don't change. when i hear a musical 'C' tone i see a vivid green line. that C tone will always produce a green line for me. what changes that is the instrument being used to play the tone. for instance a bass tone produces a pinkish brown line instead of a green one, which i see when listening to a guitar play the note.

when instruments are combined, their corresponding images mend together in my mind to create a unique, but consistent image of the song playing. so no matter what, the same song will give me the same mental paintings, unchanged.

to have the same, unchanged patterns is what tells you you are truly a synesthete. if they change (for instance listening to a bass play a C tone produces green, then pink, then orange lines), you just have a knack at visualizing the things you hear or feel. anyone can do it, but synesthetes have an involuntary, consistent reaction to whatever senses are affected.

i personally don't find it annoying since i've lived with it all my life, but i confuse people when i talk about it. :<

Originally Posted by Subaru

I remember I played "Blind Man's Bluff" with my nieces (It's like hide and seek only your blindfolded when you're the seeker). I was the seeker and I was always able to keep track of my nieces whereabouts even when I was blindfolded because whenever they made a sound I saw a flash of blue and the blue was strongest and brightest when I was facing them.

And before you say, the blindfold wasn't see through.

Haha that is so cool. You could probably use that well in paintball or something lol

Originally Posted by Scatterbrain

It often happens when I'm almost falling assleep and everything is silent I'll literally see any outside sound in white color.

That's pretty much as far as it goes for me too. I've wanted synesthesia since I heard about it but I never considered this to be synesthesia. Because it generally only happens when I'm falling asleep and suddenly hear a noise, even if it's quiet. I just get this flash of white and sometimes other colours, but very pale ones. I think it's just something to do with the brain overreacting or something. Like it suddenly tries to perceive the sound with other senses. Not sure though.

Here's a question for you synesthetes.... Have you found a use for these abilities in every day life? Or even not in everyday life, but have you found a use for them?

I read about some guy who had grapheme-colour synesthesia and he could learn languages in a few days because he wasn't just connecting words, but colours too, so it makes it easier for the brain to remember.

I get synesthesia when I take LSD, and I feel like it's very distinct and, once you experience it, you're sure of what it is. I think of it like this: if you aren't very sure it is synesthesia, it probably isn't.

What happens to me is when I look at a person or object and it moves and makes a noise, colours follow and emanate from them, all different colours based on how loud the object is and how much it moves. The colour doesn't immediately disappear, either. It lingers for a good 3 or so seconds, but since the colour continuously emanates from the object (as most objects that I am paying attention to, such as people, don't stop moving or making sound) it's almost as if it is permanent. The colours themselves are brilliant and seem to be the most "pure" I've ever seen them.

I find this so interesting. It shows how our perception of the universe is only one of probably an infinite number of ways of perceiving the universe. We only see colours because a certain part of our brain is wired to direct that stimuli to our eyes. Same goes for all senses. And there's probably stimuli we have no senses for.

I wonder if it's possible to see pure energy for example, like what people describe when on a strong psychedelic trip. Or to sense some stimuli we don't even know about yet. Just like some other animals can see ultraviolet light. Even though it's right in front of us we are unable to perceive it.

"I read about some guy who had grapheme-colour synesthesia and he could learn languages in a few days because he wasn't just connecting words, but colours too, so it makes it easier for the brain to remember."

Really? I have grapheme-color synesthesia (as well as a few other types) and it is a little bit easier for me to learn languages (compared to my friends, that is) but not THAT easy! O_O

I think I have very mild synesthesia with days as colors and months as colors
feb is blue
march green

Some colors produce either sounds or causes a weird fake memory. I had a teacher that wore a big purple jewel in his ring. Every time I looked at his ring, I would hear a tone and my thoughts would go to babies in the womb. It rarely happens with colors but on occasion a specific color will do that. If I hear water falling or rain, I start to feel cold. I wonder if that counts.

Originally Posted by Xei

Invader, what about really large numbers?

Answering this a year later.

The numerical form of large numbers don't conjure colour as well, but the spelled out version, or what I would hear (557 => five hundred and fifty seven) will. My example brings to mind heavy browns and some orange. It's curious that I should see this thread again tonight, as a few hours ago I was describing to someone close to me how I catalogue personalities as having their own representative feelings, which translate to sets of colors and spaces, in a manner of speaking. The colors of personality have a sort of life in them, which makes this concept very difficult for me to convey. I think everyone does this in their own way, though they may use literal images, sounds, text, texture, taste, and so on.

When it comes to numbers though the colors are bland. Words however can range from bland to powerful or full of life. Again, I'm not exactly sure how to approach explaining the sensations. I don't think this is a unique quality, but I do feel everyone experiences it differently and in varying degrees. It just becomes such a part of that person that it doesn't stand out as anything out of the ordinary or as something to observe and define. I hadn't thought about it until I was told that someone had a complimentary personality to my own, at which point I had to explain why I disagreed...

How do you interpret the personalities of other people? That might make this more understandable.

I am a syntheste. I can taste colour...

Well, anyone have it? And what type do you have? probably I might be the only one because its believed to be rarer than 1 in 20 000, and im not even 100% sure. But this is dreamviews, and i bet there are at least 10 of you who have it :/ If you dont know what it is google it. It will tell you all about seeing numbers and letters as colours, but there are other types, for each sense. (sight -> taste, smell -> hear, hear -> sight, etc)

For me all colours have tastes

Anyone who doesnt have it can ask questions ^.^

Well, I don't have actual senses added to others, but I imagine numbers and musical notes (keys as well) having specific colors assigned to them. B flat is blue, also brings to mind blue sky on a bright morning, B is yellow, C is brown, D is red, E is also yellow, F is green, etc, and the black keys are all shades of pink, violet and purple (except F# is neon green and I've mentioned B flat being blue). C# is a bit of a darker, duller violet than D#, which is hot pink. G minor is blue while G major is orange, and B flat minor is a very bleak gray.

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

Well, I don't have actual senses added to others, but I imagine numbers and musical notes (keys as well) having specific colors assigned to them. B flat is blue, also brings to mind blue sky on a bright morning, B is yellow, C is brown, D is red, E is also yellow, F is green, etc, and the black keys are all shades of pink, violet and purple (except F# is neon green and I've mentioned B flat being blue). C# is a bit of a darker, duller violet than D#, which is hot pink. G minor is blue while G major is orange, and B flat minor is a very bleak gray.

chords:
G, D, C, E / E-, F, A, A-, B

Sort of a mental thing, like you mentioned. I don't really see the colors ( not like I see physical things), although I am a very visual thinker, and that plays into it. Didn't really notice it until I started playing guitar, for obvious reasons. When I think of chords I sort of "see" a visualization of their layout on the neck, and I noticed this visualization having different colors for each chord. Happens to a lesser degree with single notes. Not synesthesia, just an interesting association.

Originally Posted by Mancon

Yeah, pretty much .

Reminds me of something else. Whenever I see something like that with a short, repetitive motion, such as Dark Merlin's (was it his?) avatar with the cat doing the wierd thing with it;s head, if I look at it for a few repetitions, I sometimes sort of imagine a sound that goes with it; usually a very strange/unreal sort of repetitive sound that sort of represents the motion of the image, and then I hear/imagine that when I look at the image.

Wow! Solarflare you have it?!?!?! I do too! I didn't think anyone else on this site had it!!!

Sight ----> Sound.

So when I see movement, a noise goes along with that movement. I have had it my whole life and didn't think anything of it. Last year I realized it wasn't normal and looked into it.

Originally Posted by Mancon

So when I see movement, a noise goes along with that movement. I have had it my whole life and didn't think anything of it. Last year I realized it wasn't normal and looked into it.

What kinds of sounds do you hear? Can you say which kinds of movement evoke which kinds of sounds?

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

What kinds of sounds do you hear? Can you say which kinds of movement evoke which kinds of sounds?

Well I can give you a few examples, but there are SO many different movements each and everyday I can't list them all! When someone waves to me, I can hear sleigh bells moving to the sound of their hand. When I see horses running I can hear a low piano tone to the sound of their feet. When I see blinking I hear this exactly.

Originally Posted by Solarflare

Part of the reason i think orange is my favourite colour is because my synesthesia is strongest for that colour

Wait...ORANGE IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?!?! MINE TOO! My walls are painted bright orange!

EDIT: By the way Deery, I can HEAR your avatar moving XD. (Yours too Puffin.) I love GIFS because of my synesthesia, I could stare at them all day!

Also Solarflare, have you told anyone else about your synesthesia? I have tried telling my mom and a few friends, but they don't believe me!!!!