Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Rachelle Storjohann, St. Louis, MO — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:00:10 GMT

I've never heard of this type of Synethesia...or at least, I've never met someone with this particular type. I connect colors with numbers and letters (and 5 is blue, not red, at least for me :)) and I also see colors when I hear sounds.

If anyone else out there like me is reading this article, there's a whole website for people like us. Google "Synesthesia" and go to the Synesthesia battery. It's run by Sean A. Day, a really famous Synesthete, and once you pass the test he's got going on the battery for whatever type of Synesthesia you have, you can join hundreds of other people talking about it! There are about 450 of us on it right now and it's really amazing to connect with people like me, especially since I didn't find out about Synesthesia until I was 21 and already thought I was a freak. The first time I realized no one else saw the colors, I was only 6, so I spent a good deal of my life feeling pretty alone.

I'm so glad articles about Synesthesia are getting out...if more people knew about it, it would be so much easier to identify kids at a younger age in classrooms. When I asked my teacher for yellow chalk to draw my 2, she looked at me like I had three heads...maybe if she'd read this article first, she could have helped me out more.

:)

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Rachana Thakor,New york,NewYork — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:32:41 GMT

This is something really interesting to know....I never thought that its true...i always thought its my mind hallucinating...funny...but nice to know...

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Kourtnee J., Provo, Utah — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:42:49 GMT

Very nice article about synesthetes, I never would've realized some of what one sees or hears might not actually be there, just perceived. Thanks!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Coty toronto — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:00:13 GMT

Very interesting. One would think that a person with synesthesia (auditory, visual or smelling) would have the advantage of accuracy. On the other hand, it might also be causing a distraction. Do you think that children or people with ADD have this and it is simply not recognized because the ADD patient does not sit long enough to be tested? Perhaps it should be tested at the time of testing for ADD. It seems that 1 out of 100 people is an extremely high number, I should think I would know someone with it, but I don't. Since I do never heard of this before, I think it would be awesome to have these new perceptions liven up my life. Wow, just think fireworks in audio and technicolour, with a chaser of a scent to remember.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Le Ann Wilson — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:02:00 GMT

I'm a 43-year-old synesthete with a taste-sound modality; I can literally taste words and noises. My first real recollection of my synesthesia harks back to kindergarten, when I'd immediately taste moist, rich chocolate cake with chocolate icing every time my teacher said the word "practice". Other words or sounds produce equally delicious results; the peal of a bell tastes like cherry Jello; the word "much" tastes like a toasted cheese sandwich; and my own last name, "Wilson", tastes like homemade vanilla ice cream! Other words or phrases aren't so palatable. The word "dignity", for example, tastes like greasy sausage gravy (which I hate, while "simple" tastes like a sour pickle. For the record, I love being a synesthete, although I will have to admit that my appetite has been ruined or, on the other hand, I've begun to crave a particular food after hearing a specific word or sound, especially if it's repeated a number of times. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Debra Medlock, Oakland, CA — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:32:28 GMT

I've always "associated" certain colors to most letters and numbers, i.e., five is always yellow, "A" is always red, but I don't believe I actually visually see the characters as those colors.

My mother handed me an article by a San Francisco columnist a few years ago in which she casually mentioned she did the same thing, and had people think it was odd. I had evidently mentioned this association to my mom when I was a child and she remembered. (Yeah, Mom!)

Anybody else out there do the same thing?

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

t.l. — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:18:47 GMT

A Mango-Shaped Space (2003) is a novel by Wendy Mass. It is about Mia, a thirteen year old girl living with synesthesia.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

JG Schnellmann Charleston, SC — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:50:11 GMT

This is not really news is it? My sister and I have this, and think it may be hereditary. We have known we have it for about 6 years or more, so I was surprised to see it treated as NEWS....
My sister's is grapheme and mine is color with music. Some songs/tones are pastels and some are primary colors...as always.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

John Clay, Washington, DC — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:45:27 GMT

Although this IS very fascinating, it is not new. See the 2003 book "The Man Who Tasted Shapes" by Richard E. Cytowic

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Christy D., Florida — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:17:58 GMT

I was always embarassed to tell people I saw red for the number 5. It's weird they used that example. I've never heard of synesthesia but now I wonder if that's what I have. Does it work the other way too? I've noticed that if I have my eyes shut and there is a noise (doesn't even have to be loud) but I see a flash of light that goes with it.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Jack N. boston. — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:47:58 GMT

what's next, the computer's buzzing sound is my imagination too? tv's make noise, I can even be in the next room with the door open and tv muted and hear the staticy buzzes that the tv makes sometimes, but this article is trying to say it's all in my head, even if im not able to see the light flashes from the tv, but i hear them, it's just crossed wires. yeah right.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Phoenix, AZ — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:02:49 GMT

i dont think most people would believe this coud be that extreme, regardless if its good or bad. but along with many other things, i guess it can be. i have a minimal case, i hear things i see sometimes. but colors with numbers and tastes with random words? crazy, but cool! there should be more research done, whatever the cause is im sure it is very interesting.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Maddie — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:50:33 GMT

No, but I hear what I'm feeling.

I won't wear wool because the rasping sound is too annoying. If I have a snag on a fingernail and it catches on something, the sound is quite high-pitched, sharp and jarring. Even pain has a sound - a dull ache has a sound that reminds me of a dentist's drill.

OTOH, a butter-soft silk knit sounds like a gently flowing stream and crip cotton sheets sound like leaves moving in the breeze.

Ironically, I suffer from mild hearing loss.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Dori Davis — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:26:14 GMT

I don't get taste or color with all words, but emotions and physical sensations have definite tastes and colors. Only trouble is, the average doctor can't discriminate between a gray pain and a pink one, and so doesn't realize how much worse it is, even if you point out that it's also salty.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Gina P, Charlottesville Virginia — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:30:05 GMT

I was thirty years old before I learned that not everyone heard music in color! Never felt freakish about it, to me it seems completely natural. Oddly, I don't have it with top-forty-type music, only instrumental pieces.

cheers

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Liz Brown, Hoboken, NJ — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:54:33 GMT

I have grapheme synesthesia and for the most part, it helps me scan documents for editing. It's like spell-check.

I have the taste and auditory, but not as strong. I hear things...like, I can hold a leaf in my hand and hear the leaf as I look at it.

It worked to my disadvantage recently. I got sick, but I thought I was just tired. I went for a week with intense auditory hallucinations and just figured it was my usual synesthesia coming out extra strong for some reason. Then when I started having fainting spells, I realized it wasn't synestesia after all.

Now I'm well and back to the regular synesthesia.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Jane Doe, Norman, OK — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:08:53 GMT

Like Le Ann Wilson, I, too, taste words. Test, for instance, tastes like canned tuna. Practice, however, to me tastes like a pastry shell. Christmas tastes like fried shrimp. Thoughts taste like chocolate ice cream. Wish tastes like celery.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Meladi Crane — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:58:46 GMT

I think it would be so amazing to have that condition, if you could even call it a condition. I wish I could see colors while hearing music; I can only imagine how beautitul Mozart or Tchaikovsky classics must look. And in response to Le Ann, I wonder how the music I listed would taste... delicious, I'm sure!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Days, St. Thomas, Ont — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:49:48 GMT

I think this is a totally awesome type of "abnormality" to have. I can imagine that hearing your teacher say that you had to "practice practice practice!" brought a smile to your face every time lol. I would love to have something like that!! I know there have been times where I have had to check the tv for sound just because I could swear I hear something, but who knows I may just have found out I have something truly special :D

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

AndreaB, Columbus, OH — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:22:00 GMT

The human body is amazing. :)

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Regina — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:42:39 GMT

I have sequence-space synethesia and truly only discovered that what I had lived with all of my life actually had a name. It's hard to believe that everyone doesn't visualize numbers, days of the week and months in space as I do.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Montreal — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:50:52 GMT

Mhmmm...my aunt looked at me funny when I told her that her pasta tasted like black, when I was 7...Why do you think we don't talk about it as much, then?

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

melissa, lake elsinore, california — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:31:29 GMT

I definitely connect colors with letters, not always with numbers although when i sit and concentrate on the number it defintely has a color connection...4 is always green for me, 5 changes...i guess with my mood i dont know....
Its cool to see that these things are actually something and not just me going crazy slowly but surely...well thats prolly the case too hahah!
I dont connect colors with sounds, i connect images....and if anything, moving images of color. But i do feel images, and more specifically moving images, is that something i wonder???

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

J. Doe, California — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:06 GMT

This probably isn't the same, but....

When I look out a window at rain, especially if I'm driving, I feel tiny drops of water hitting my hands, face, and legs. I used to look all around trying to find a leaky window or such. Even a leaky window didn't explain how a droplet of rain would hit my leg through my pants and stockings. I'd wipe my face expecting to feel a drop of wet, but it was perfectly dry. I didn't notice this until I was in my 40s.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Amanda, Denver, CO. — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:44:08 GMT

That's a great article, I've only heard of synesthesia vaguely and it was interesting how they talked about the tests and lab research :)) I don't comsider myself a "real" synesthetic but once in a blue moon I can smell words in print, I think it's really amazing but wish I could have more synesthetic experiences :) Wednesday smells like honey, the sun smells like roses, the name Andrew smells like rich chocolate! :)

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Meg, New York — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:14:46 GMT

Woah... i have graphene i think... and for me, 5 is yellow... i just thought i was weird...

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Cari Robinson, Triangle, Virginia — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:12:10 GMT

I've never heard of this before, but reading this article, all things seem to click in my mind. I have always associated colors with numbers. I'm curious, however, if there is some set pattern to the mind. For example, if there is only a set range of color sequences for certain numbers. As mentioned in the article, I see 5 as red and as mentioned in a previous comment, I see 2 as yellow. Are there others with this exact pattern? 1- White, 2- Yellow, 3- Green, 4- Orange, 5- Blue It goes on, but 1-5 makes it easier. Thanks!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Guy, Arlington, Tex. — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:55:22 GMT

Yes. I believe Mozart had this condition, as he tended to associate key signatures with colors and corresponding moods. For example, the key of D major made him see the color yellow; it was a bright and sunny key. The key of B major (or B-flat major?) may have had more of a dark purple signature, and he associated the key with despair or mystery.

I myself, have noticed that i hear much more than most people when the television is on mute. I also, if i think about it hard enough, can associate colors with certain other stimuli like sounds and smells.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

April, atlanta, GA — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:16:53 GMT

I have the motion-sound version. This makes simple things, like going to church or a busy restaurant very exhausting. Sometimes I just come home and crash. I'll sometimes tell my husband to tell the kids to be quiet and he points out they aren't making a sound - just jumping and twirling. I also still suffer from bad car sickness. I wonder if it's related?

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Lauri Polunsky, Austin, TX — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:02:43 GMT

I, too, love being a synesthete, but really dislike having to constantly prove myself when people ask about it. Colors have shapes and letters and numbers have colors as well so I also hear the colors -- for me, music is just a lot of colorful geometry and sometimes it's quite painful (can't take much of The Mars Volta in one sitting!) I made quilts for my kids using the colors of their names. They see colorful quilts. When I look at them, I literally see their names over and over.

Coty in Toronto -- the advantage I have is that because I love words and know the color and shape patterns they 'should' have, I can edit with a simple glance. Or let my dh know the piano is out of tune because the colors edges got blurred when he played certain notes. Sounds like something out of scifi, but I would love a job based on these talents!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Stacey, Randolph, MA — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:31:27 GMT

An awesome novel for young readers on the sujbect is "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass. The publisher is Little, Brown. Mass manages to make synethesia sound wonderful. I came away from the book thinking: those lucky, lucky synesthetes! And, not so coincidentally, what a wonderful writer!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Mary Schaffert, Curtis, NE — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:55:14 GMT

I see colors with letters and numerals but i"ve always associated them with the faded wooden blocks I played with as a toddler. Could others be seeing something from an early association rather than a sensory cross-over?

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Suzanne, Wexford, PA — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:42:09 GMT

As a child, I saw numbers defined by gender and personality. 5 was male. 4 was female. 7 and 8 were evil males intent on hurting 5 & 4. When the teacher wrote a number on the blackboard such as 7548, I felt a sense of danger for 5 & 4. I don't know if this is the same as synesthesia or not.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

imani batista — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:35:06 GMT

i remember whem i was younger i always like to draw my name. Each letter was a specific color though like both i's were blue the n was red the m was pink and a was yellow. by the way i'm only 13 so when i read this article it suprised my how much could relate to these things.and thank you for metioning the battery website its helping me understand alot.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Toni, Saginaw MI — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:02:21 GMT

I stopped asking "Silly Questions" about the sounds no one else heard when I was still a child.
As I grew up I became afraid to ever mention it for fear of being labeled emotionaly disturbed.
At this moment I am simply overwhelmed to learn others who are normal experience this same thing and it has a name!!!!!!!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Jenn, Indianapolis, IN — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:31:53 GMT

Every time my first-grade teacher said "lunch" I imagined myself biting into a sandwich - very specific, fried lunch meat (spiced luncheon loaf, specifically) on white bread with mustard, so detailed I could taste it. I always assumed it was just the word evoking the idea, lunch=sandwich, but after reading this, I'm curious about it. I'm not sure it's ever happened in any other context though. What a fascinating condition!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Nicole, Philadelphia, PA — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:38:18 GMT

I feel a lot better reading this. I connect sounds with colors, which other people have always found strange. Good to know other people have the same issue.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Blake — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:58:59 GMT

My English class, of all classes was doing this whole thing about synesthesia and we even took a test to determine if we had it (numbers to colors). None of us were synesthetes, though :(

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Bruce Stratton, Cottonwood, CA — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:16:43 GMT

I have heard odd sounds for years that were heard by no one else but never paid attention to the accompanying circumstances to determine if they correspond to visual or any other cues. i simply atributed them to my former heavy drug/alcohol use. From now on I will take note of the surrounding activities and try to determine what, if any, correllations exist.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Troy "Skelton" Hughes call me RED — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:30:42 GMT

I have had this since a child . I told people the color of each number, I thought it had to do with the game pool or billiards. But the colors didn't match. I thought I was just weird.The number 3 was yellow the number 4 was green, but the to didn't mix to make the number 7, which is brown. I still count steps or stairs, so I thought it was a math thing. I'm good at math. I am also a sign artist and standup comedian. Is it math or art or....?This is really nice to hear, that other people do the same things I do. Maybe it goes back to paint by numbers. Either way it hasn't messed up my life.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Sylvia Gardiner, Lafayette LA — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:57:00 GMT

I don't think I'm a synesthete, but I can relate...As a child I spent hours worrying that what I perceive as round might be some other shape to other people, or what was yellow to me might be some different color out of someone else'e eyes. At about age 8 I realized that it didn't matter so long as we all agreed on the word for whatever it is being desribed...Language is everyting.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Beatriz Moreno, Chelsea, Ma. — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:05:08 GMT

I don't know if i have synesthesia, but i do connect colors to numbers like 1 is light blue, 2 is just blue, 3 is red, 4 is yellow- orange etc.
But I thought everyone connected colors to numbers. Oh and for the record (Coty toronto) I do have A.D.D..

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Rhonda, California — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:09:05 GMT

This was fascinating, and although i'm pretty sure I'm not a synthete, (I'm sure that spelling is horrid) I'd like to find others like me.

I can see perfectly well and am not blind, this is important to note, because I absolutely CANNOT visualize.

My memory of images is verbal. I can describe very detailed, but Ican't "see" it.

If I read something I "feel" it. Somehow. I connect through a "feeling/emotional" type of level. Its sounds like some kind of Synthetetes, but???

What would this be called? And are there others who can't visualize, and therefore can't remember what a person looked like that you haven't seen in some time? I can't remember what my son looked like in his younger days, and it takes looking at my photos to remember. (hes only 8)

There are no flashcards or snapshots in the head to locate the image files.

Yet if I had the images, I'd have a high percentage of recall. Before the advent of PC's, in a book I could remember where an important part was and where on the page and generally what paragraph. I didn't memorize page numbers, but I could locate it by what part of the book I remember reading such facts. It would just "feel right." PC's "pages" are so long and columnular.

So am I completely weird in a good way, or are there others of you hiding out here. It sounds like it might be another type of synethesia, but then again, maybe not.

I learned of my oddity young as well, my most vivid rememberance was music class in the 5th or 6th grade. The teacher played a piece of classical music and asked us to to tell what we saw in our minds... then she called on students at random to answer. I remember hoping she wouldn't call on me, for I saw NOTHING. It was black. They wanted images, I couldn't conjure any. I have no idea if I "felt" anything. She luckily never called on me and it was as I grew and encountered other "visual" instances where I couldn't "perform" that I learned of my oddness.

Thanks for listening.

A fellow odd person.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Woody, Atlanta, GA — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:51:47 GMT

I remember being humiliated by my 5th-grade teacher when I tried to explain that the letter "K" was orange in an essay. She called me up to her desk and spoke with me, full of concern for my mental well-being.

Now, as a 41-year-old adult, I'm glad to know that there's more awareness of synesthesia. Hopefully fewer and fewer people will be ridiculed, and more of us can enjoy our perception of the world.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Jason, Cosmopolis Washington — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:08:03 GMT

Synesthesia is quite the interesting subject. I'm not a Synesthete but I did write a short research paper on the phenomenon for a psych class. The only time I seem to experience anything of the sorts is when I see skater footage of people falling and catching their crotch on a hand rail, hehe. I'm still quite interested in Synesthesia. If you're interested in learning more, Richard E. Cytowic has written a book or two and seems to have done quite a bit of study and research on Synesthesia.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Natalie, Ga. — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:52:30 GMT

Rhonda, in California --

I'm the same way you are as I cannot visualize an image in my mind. I see things like everyone else when my eyes are open, but the best I can do in my head is a knowledge based idea. Like I know what I want (right now it's teal colored panels for my window) but I cannot physically see it in my mind. I'll recognize it easily when I see the actual piece I'm "visualizing" through words in my head.
The closest I can describe it is a feeling, but for the visuals out there recall a scene from the movie Daredevil - when he "sees" Electra in the rain. That split-second fuzzy image is all I get (and no, it's not continuous like the rain keeps falling, a split second is all).
Yet ironically enough, my dreams are technicolored like I'm living it. Go figure. I simply cannot visualize while I am conscious (sp?).

But I am a happy, healthy person.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Kelsey Dawn, Ohio — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:31:32 GMT

Perhaps some people who are obsessive compulsive may actually have THIS instead!! Or perhaps the obsession/compulsion is a sensory issue. As Troy Hughes had said in his experience. There should be more research on the subject.

Sylvia Gardiner, I can relate. I always wondered the same thing, too. If my eyes picked up on different hues than others, in relation to other colors then each color I SEE would have a word and their hues would make it a different color to them, but with the same word. Amazing, yet complicated. :)

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Phoenix C. Alexander, PhD; Aliso Viejo, California — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:32:01 GMT

Some folks recollect having had synaesthesia from childhood. But it can also result from head injury even in adults, and even otherwise "regular" folks can experience the mixing of the senses that are the hallmarks of synaesthesia while on drug "trips".

Any of the 12 senses (which include proprioception, falling and rectilinear movement, etc.) can be involved in synaesthesia. Since most folk are barely aware of their primary five senses, it's no wonder that many synaesthetes don't realize that other people don't experience the world the way they do until they read articles like this one (Kudos, Brian Alexander!).

In my most memorable synaesthetic event in 1970, I experienced the positions of swallows in a flock flying over a river as notes on a musical scale and heard the music those "notes" produced. It sounded like a beautiful piece of Impressionistic music. I have relative pitch and at the time sang chorale music, but sight-reading was not my forte.

I researched synaesthesia in graduate school in the 1970s and believe that it is an ability with which we are all born that helps us learn, but for most of us it is superceded by the development of the language processing areas of the brain.

A very old and simplistic model of brain growth: As our brain grows, it starts with what are basically "columns" of brain cells with little connection between those columns. Over time we form connections (dendrites) between the columns, and stimuli coming into the brain from the senses are crucial to this process. A generalization (OK, an over-generalization) is that the connections between the deepest cells on the columns have a tendency to be made before those closer to the outer surface of the brain. Eventually this results in the deeply convoluted surface of the adult brain with which we are familiar. As the columns connect up, the brain also begins to develop preferences for how stimuli from the senses get funneled to different areas for processing (often referred to as "lateralization"). Primary and secondary association areas develop, and increasingly stimuli are funneled quickly to the areas of the brain that become responsible for language (Wernicke's and Broca's Areas). As language develops, the pathways of stimuli from the senses through the brain follow what begin to look like roadmaps, with "secondary streets" and "highways" spreading out to many areas. Going to the language-processing areas of the brain, they seem more like "superhighways".

In 1975 I formulated a theory that synaesthesia involves activation of the lower and earliest-forming connections between the columns of brain cells with which we are born and which usually are superceded by the developing "superhighways" to the language areas. It looked at the time that the hippocampus may be involved as well as the reticular activating system, specifically the ARAS.

It explains why both synaesthetes and "regular" folk can make the same type of associations, but the synaesthetes actually experience them. And in the case of synaesthetes, the particular associations made are more persistent or accurate over time. When chromasthetes (hear sound, see colors or vice versa) and "regular" folk were both asked to associate particular sounds with color chips on a standard color wheel used in phychological testing (many, many colors), both groups could do it easily, but when retested later, in some cases years later, the chromasthetes made the exact same associations they had before, while the "regular" folk didn't necessarily do so.

If my theory were correct, I hypothesized that in cultures in which people spoke languages that lacked words to distinguished between certain senses (for example, they had no words to distinguish between taste and smell), synaesthesia between those senses may be more prevalent than in cultures that had those language distinctions.

I never got the chance to test it. At the time I was in graduate school, the topic of synaesthesia was considered too "flaky" for a serious researcher, and I was urged to go another direction.

I am no longer affiliated with a research university. However, I would love it if someone in a position to do so would explore my theory, regardless of testing out the specific hypothesis above. If it pans out, please give a footnote to The Dreamkeeper's Daughter.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Phoenix C. Alexander, PhD; Aliso Viejo, California — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:38:03 GMT

Some folks recollect having had synaesthesia from childhood. But it can also result from head injury even in adults, and even otherwise "regular" folks can experience the mixing of the senses that are the hallmarks of synaesthesia while on drug "trips".

Any of the 12 senses (which include proprioception, falling and rectilinear movement, etc.) can be involved in synaesthesia. Since most folk are barely aware of their primary five senses, it's no wonder that many synaesthetes don't realize that other people don't experience the world the way they do until they read articles like this one (Kudos, Brian Alexander!).

In my most memorable synaesthetic event in 1970, I experienced the positions of swallows in a flock flying over a river as notes on a musical scale and heard the music those "notes" produced. It sounded like a beautiful piece of Impressionistic music. I have relative pitch and at the time sang chorale music, but sight-reading was not my forte.

I researched synaesthesia in graduate school in the 1970s and believe that it is an ability with which we are all born that helps us learn, but for most of us it is superceded by the development of the language processing areas of the brain.

A very old and simplistic model of brain growth: As our brain grows, it starts with what are basically "columns" of brain cells with little connection between those columns. Over time we form connections (dendrites) between the columns, and stimuli coming into the brain from the senses are crucial to this process. A generalization (OK, an over-generalization) is that the connections between the deepest cells on the columns have a tendency to be made before those closer to the outer surface of the brain. Eventually this results in the deeply convoluted surface of the adult brain with which we are familiar. As the columns connect up, the brain also begins to develop preferences for how stimuli from the senses get funneled to different areas for processing (often referred to as "lateralization"). Primary and secondary association areas develop, and increasingly stimuli are funneled quickly to the areas of the brain that become responsible for language (Wernicke's and Broca's Areas). As language develops, the pathways of stimuli from the senses through the brain follow what begin to look like roadmaps, with "secondary streets" and "highways" spreading out to many areas. Going to the language-processing areas of the brain, they seem more like "superhighways".

In 1975 I formulated a theory that synaesthesia involves activation of the lower and earliest-forming connections between the columns of brain cells with which we are born and which usually are superceded by the developing "superhighways" to the language areas. It looked at the time that the hippocampus may be involved as well as the reticular activating system, specifically the ARAS.

It explains why both synaesthetes and "regular" folk can make the same type of associations, but the synaesthetes actually experience them. And in the case of synaesthetes, the particular associations made are more persistent or accurate over time. When chromasthetes (hear sound, see colors or vice versa) and "regular" folk were both asked to associate particular sounds with color chips on a standard color wheel used in psychological testing (many, many colors), both groups could do it easily, but when retested later, in some cases years later, the chromasthetes made the exact same associations they had before, while the "regular" folk didn't necessarily do so.

If my theory were correct, I hypothesized that in cultures in which people spoke languages that lacked words to distinguished between certain senses (for example, they had no words to distinguish between taste and smell), synaesthesia between those senses may be more prevalent than in cultures that had those language distinctions.

I never got the chance to test it. At the time I was in graduate school, the topic of synaesthesia was considered too "flaky" for a serious researcher, and I was urged to go another direction.

I am no longer affiliated with a research university. However, I would love it if someone in a position to do so would explore my theory, regardless of testing out the specific hypothesis above. If it pans out, please give a footnote to The Dreamkeeper's Daughter.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

EC, Jackson Hole, Wyoming — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:08:09 GMT

Thank you for the information on the Synesthesia website! As a visual artist, my tastes and sounds and sights get all mixed up together - and it's wonderful, really! The number 5 is red, atleast in my world, and it tastes slightly bitter. When I look straight up into the deepest part of the clear blue sky, I could bite into it and it would have the texture and taste of Play-Do. Music comes in colors and textures, too - soft as thick green flannel, or tinny tasting as my grandmother's old drinking cups. Sunsets have sounds, colors have tastes, tastes have colors, etc. I joke that my life is a perpetual acid trip. Cheers to all synesthetes!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Shauna, Montara, CA — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:19:19 GMT

My brother and I are synesthetes, and, as musicians, we see notes as colors and textures, sometimes with smells or tastes. Both of us have perfect pitch as well. (BTW, I haven't heard other perfect-pitchers confess to synesthesia, at least so far.) A key has a definite color, and that's sometimes how I identify the key that a piece I'm hearing is being played in: by its overall color. It's a shortcut--no need to go through the mental steps to pin down pitches.

While cooking, too, I see shapes and hear pitches, but it's more subtle; and, in this regard, I'm not sure I haven't been influenced by reading Oliver Sacks.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Jethro T. San Antonio, TX — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:51:47 GMT

Wow!

Never in a millio years did I think anyone else have anything like this...

I need to take the test on the website mentioned as I have (since a child) always seen flashes of white light whenever a loud noise startled me... especially when asleep or trying to sleep...

I've also experienced loud waves of sound while trying to fall asleep accompanied by waves of color that tend to wash across my vision path as my eyes are closed... but this hasn't happened for many years (thank goodness.)

Don't really have the number/color thing but tend to hear faint clicking and movement on things that "shouldn't" have any sound... like the scrolling marquee of a screen saver.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Rhonda, California — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:12:19 GMT

Natalie in Ga.

It was nice hearing from one other like me, Wish i knew how to find you in cyberspace.

I don't even get that momentary flash. You described. Mine is nothing. I've only had 2 visual images ever. And...

I too dream in very vivid technicolor when I do dream.

Rhonda in CA.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Justin Pfluger, Brookfield, IL — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:51:58 GMT

I am a teen who see's music In living color. I used to think I was crazy, but now I understand. This is definitely real. I told my friend not to think I was crazy, and the next week, I got a email with a link to this. Music made me feel alive, and now I understand.

Every time I walk into a store with music, Is seems to take on a new perspective. The colors weave and bob and take on forms and stories. Now I lived with that for 16 years, and I thought something is wrong with me. I learned to not expose my self to long to some things, lest it effects me, like Pink Floyde. I now write lyrics, play, compose music and let the stories tell themselves.

This is wonderful opportunity, I feel a deeper understanding of myself. There are many people out there who need to know this. This is not a disability, it’s a gift. A real life sixth sense if you will. If I can help further research, let me know. My email and webpage are included.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Sherri Lafayette IN — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:47:24 GMT

When I see red and white mix on a painting pallet it makes me queasy and certain shades of blue make my mouth go dry. Is this the same thing?

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Dennis, Athens, GA — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:42:57 GMT

I too was surprised some time ago to learn that everyone did not association colors with music. It seemed the most obvious thing in the world. All notes have colors that are quite clear to me. Also, I could always close my eyes during an uptempo jazz piece and watch patterns being created in white, like lace being made by an invisible hand.
Further,there's a certain note on a cello which I really dislike. When it's played, a vision of grey slime appears and makes me shudder and feel slightly nauseous.
I have never been able to eat onions because their flavor seems to be somehow very dirty.
Of course these sensations are not something you share with others because others have no idea what is happening. Since learning about it, I realize it is no big deal so I just accept it as part of being a separate human being.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Erin, North Carolina — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:41:26 GMT

I have several forms of synesthesia apparently-- grapheme to color (5 is a pale blue to me, it's not red) color to sound (If I saw moving dots on a computer screen, I'd hear humming sounds... very interesting when I look at a lava lamp too, actually). I also see colors when I hear sounds (VERY interesting experience, as I'm in band at school!) and visualize numbers, days of the week, and months in forms!

I didn't even know I had it until a few months ago, because it had always been natural for me. It explains why I can't stand forums wiht lots of animated smileys.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

K Howard (Chicago Area) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:59:19 GMT

Numbers have always had colors for me. Shapes too have definite colors. I am also dyslexic. So learning math has always been a challenge for me because I first had to try to filter through the wrong colors that were often assigned to the numbers and shapes in the school books before I could concentrate on the problem. Words and numbers and shapes also have very specific textures that can be felt mentally. People likewise are textures that can be read. If I mask it as a "parlor trick" I can tell you all about you by describing you as a fabric. How I know this - I don't know. Is it mind reading or ESP - who knows. I've been doing it since I was very young. I can also tell when you are pregant before you know you are pregnant and I know if it is a boy or a girl by the edging on your fabric. I've learned to keep it to myself. It makes me a very astute counselor but too astute and too tuned in to my clients which is why I can't do that full-time. I forget what I am supposed to know (what they tell me) and what I shouldn't know (what I have picked up) and it is not a good thing to start talking about things they have not told me about.

Squares are Red.
Squares are hard like glass and the texture is like that of a mirror - they even reflect back which is why the author of this article is like a mirror today (Thanksgiving Day) because he is feeling trapped in a square of family obligations and work constraints and is comtemplating a major life shift/decision. If he follows the red 3 and steps outside of the box he feels he is in, by Christmas he will find a renewed since of purpose.
3's are Red.
The word "Square" is red.
But the word "red" is not red it is black.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Tracy Wagner, Kansas City, MO — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:50:47 GMT

This site was great to find. The lights and color I see is not associated with numbers or music. I see flashes and waves of light, some very bright and gray and hear very loud noice, pops and clicking sounds. It actually startles me and wakes me up as I'm falling asleep. I used to get up and check to house because I thought they were real noices in the house. They are so loud to me. I haven't shared this with anyone but my husband! Glad to hear I'm not crazy!

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Chris, Prattville, AL — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:04:11 GMT

I have never been diagnosed with synesthesia but, I didn't know until recently that not everyone smelled color. I was out getting a drink with friends and made a comment that I couldn't were my favorite perfume because I was wearing brown. My friends of course questioned me. LOL. I said well you know how that smell is the wrong color. I have always associated color with smells, and to some extent smell with color.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

Terra, Jarrettsville, MD — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:06:10 GMT

This so cool! I thought I was the only one to "see" music. I perceive music as colorful strands that weave in and about each other...each instument or section has it's own color and strand. It winds up almost like an ongoing tapestry. I do have to close my eyes to see this. Other sounds also have associated images.

Colors also have tastes...I think all this allows me to enjoy a much wider scope of my existance, much more "full and rich" than most people perceive their world.

Do you hear what I'm seeing?

NL, New Jersey — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:45:16 GMT

I will often hear music when I'm in a quiet room with no other outside noise. I always brushed it off thinking it had to be coming from somewhere.