Many a creative person has posed the question, what is synesthesia? This most often occurs when they’ve been given the diagnosis of it.
Depending on the kind of synesthesia they’re experiencing, they’ve likely spent their lives being able to hear a color, taste an emotion, or see a sound. And because they’ve normalized this, they assume everyone experiences the world this way.
Until they find out that’s not the case.
What Is Synesthesia, Exactly?
Okay, so the above doesn’t really explain synesthesia from a scientific angle. So without getting too heady, think about it this way.
Most of us rely on our five main senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — to understand what’s happening around us. These senses describe to your brain what they’re picking up, and the brain sends it to the appropriate part of the brain to process it. So, for example, you recognize a red octagonal shape as a stop sign. Or you’re able to identify the sound of a voice in tandem with instruments as a song.
The process is different for those with synesthesia though.
For them, the process is different. Rather than the sensory input going to one section of the brain, it appears to be routed through two or more brain areas at once.
What Causes It?
Some scientists think synesthesia is the result of crossed wires in the brain and that the neurons and synapses that are typically contained within one sensory system cross to another. This can cause a synesthete so see Tuesday as orange or experience numbers as sounds.
To be clear, although we’re using the word ‘diagnose’ for synesthesia, it is not considered a disease. Quite the contrary. For many creative people, it’s a gift. An estimated four percent of the population is synesthetic – and the vast majority of them are artists – be they writers, visual artists, actors, musicians, etc. This phenomenon also tends to be more common among women and those who are left-handed.
Different Types of Synesthesia
So to simplify, synesthesia is when one sensory experience involuntarily prompts another. It’s not just a singular condition, however. Since there are so many ways the five different senses can communicate to the many areas of the brain, at least 73 different types of synesthesia exist.
We’ll look at six of the more well-known types here.
1. Grapheme-Color Synesthesia
Grapheme-color synesthesia is among the most common type of synesthesia and accounts for over 50% of synesthetes. For folks with this type of synesthesia, letters and numbers have a specific color. One grapheme-color synesthete will see letters and numbers in black and white on paper but assign colors to them in their mind. For another, they see these colors all the time. The colors for each letter or number vary by person.
2. Space-Time Synesthesia
For a space-time synesthete, time is a line, circle, or some other spatial arrangement. In other words, they perceive time units as locations in space or physical objects. For example, in their mind, June is on the left and May is on the right. Or they may perceive time as moving through space with the future ahead of them and the past behind them.
3. Chromesthesia (Sound-to-Color)
When a sound-to-color synesthete hears certain sounds, they associate that sound with colors. These are also often in the shape of geometric figures. Similar to those with grapheme-color synesthesia, they either perceive these colors in their heads, or they actually witness them.
4. Personification Synesthesia
Personification synesthesia is also called ordinal-linguistic personification (OLP). This sort of synesthete deems ordered sequences such as the alphabet or months of the year, as having their own personality. So the letter C might be sad, while the letter Q us cheerful.
5. Mirror-Touch Synesthesia
Mirror-touch synesthesia is an extreme form of empathy. For those with this condition, they are able to experience the sensation of the person they’re witnessing. For example, if the person they’re talking to scratches his nose, they too will feel their nose being scratched. But there will be no actual scratching.
6. Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia
If you’ve ever wondered what words taste like, just ask someone with lexical-gustatory synesthesia. They’ll be able to tell you their experience, at least. This form of synesthesia is rare, but those who have it find that certain words and phonemes have a specific taste. They also have texture and temperature. Thus, the word “house” might taste like warm and chewy bread.
Are You a Synesthete?
Now that you can effectively answer the question, what is synesthesia, you might be surprised to find out you see the world in one of these ways. Fortunately, you are not alone.
Spend any time in a creative environment, such as an arts-integrated high school, and you’re going to meet others who have this creative superpower!
So if you don’t feel you fit in at your current school and are curious about how you can take advantage of this special gift, contact us today to schedule a tour of Arts Academy in the Woods. And come find your tribe!