Overview of 4 Forms of Synesthesia

Synesthesia manifests itself when stimulation to one cognitive pathway immediately and involuntary triggers the stimulation of another.  In everyday terms, those who experience synesthesia see more than what is apparent to most everyone else.  This occurs because of an abnormal wiring of an individual's brain, which leads to two different functions becoming intertwined.  Little is known about synesthesia which makes it an interesting topic of study for psychologists, neuroscientists, and laymen alike.

Four of the major forms synesthesia are grapheme-color synesthesia, chromesthesia, spatial sequence synesthesia,  and spatio-temporal synesthesia.

Grapheme-color synesthesia is the association of a color or shade with a visual cue that has none.  For example, those who experience this may report that the character "7" is orange while the character "9" is yellow.  Interestingly, while most people have different associations, there seem to be patterns among individuals who experience grapheme-color synesthesia.  For example, the letter A is likely to be red for people who make such connections.

Chromesthesia, another of the most common forms of synesthesia, is the translation of sounds heard to colors seen.  Within the group of people who experience this, there are two subdivisions.  First, there are people who associate everyday sounds with colors.  Something as simple as hearing a doorbell or shoes squeaking can trigger a certain color to be brought to mind.  The second group is composed of people who associate musical notes or keys of music with colors.  Unlike grapheme-color synesthesia, there is little agreement between individuals who experience chromesthesia about how a certain sound is translated.

Spatial sequence synesthesia manifests through being able to give a physical relationship for things based on numbers.  For example, someone may say that they are closer to the number 3 than the number 7.  A more relatable example could be to say, "The meeting on Wednesday was pushed forward to Thursday."  Like chromesthesia, there seems to be little consensus on how numbers and sequences are experienced by the individual.  Some people see events or numbers on a timeline, while others visualize them in three-dimensional space.  Interestingly, those who experience this form of spatial sequence synesthesia are more likely to have gifted memories, as they are more equipped to implement memory tactics such as the memory palace.

Finally, spatio-temporal synesthesia is also a commonly experienced form of this abnormality, in which individuals make a mental image of the relation between time events, such as days or months.  Those who experience this form tend to say that they can "see the time," for example, as they can imagine a physical representation of what time means to them.  Like grapheme-color synesthesia, common trends are expressed between the people who "see the time," as time is usually expressed as a ring or circle for them.

Overall, synesthesia is an interesting and varied abnormality in neural circuits that causes those who have it to experience the information of the world in vastly different ways.

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