An Explanation of my Spatial-Sequence Synesthesia
In my spatial-sequence synesthesia, I see months of the year, days of the week, and hours of the day in circular sequences that occupy space.
Months of the Year
My year is a large circle around my head. The months run counter-clockwise, with January at the “top” slightly to the left of center. The months follow around the circle, until June and July are basically inside my head, then continuing around to the right until December meets January. Whenever I think of a month, I see it in its spot and its color. My calendar does not rotate. It is always the same no matter what month it currently is. If I think of a month, I can sort of move myself into it, but retain the dominance of the static calendar. I don’t know if this is making sense to anyone but me…
The idea of this circular spatial sequence is that the months are constantly flowing one into the other, in a constant, repetitive pattern. There is no break in the pattern, which is why my circle is so appropriate. Below I’ve drawn a couple of diagrams of my year, complete with each month’s color. The first one is as if you were standing behind me. The second is as if you were looking down at it from above my head.
Days of the Week
My week is similar to my hear in that it is circular and runs counter-clockwise. It is much smaller than my year, and sits in a space in front of me and slightly to the left. Sunday and Saturday and in the “back” of the circle, and the rest of the days are in the “front”. It also has less dimension/depth than the year does. Each day has a color as well. Just like my year, I can move myself into each day, but the week never changes its spatial sequence. Below I’ve drawn a diagram of the way I see my week, with each day in its color.
This is a very rough sketch of how I view the days of the week via my spatial-sequence synesthesia. It’s a circle, where Saturday and Sunday are farther away and Wednesday is closest to me. It’s really hard to depict this properly. The days are also colored based on how they are colored to me (via my grapheme-color synesthesia). This is not necessarily how the actual words look to me, just the DAYS.
Hours of the Day
The hours in my day are slightly different from my year and week. My day is like an elongated oval, and sits vertically, as opposed to horizontally (like my year and week) in space. It is like a big oval that I could draw on the wall in front of me, and is about the same height as my body, but higher than me (it doesn’t start at my feet, but maybe my waist). It is also different in that it runs clockwise, but it is not exactly like a clock.
Midnight is at the top. 6:00 am is at the bottom. Noon is halfway through the left side. The chunks of time also have colors associated with them, but it’s mainly just the color of the sky during that time of day, so I don’t know that it counts in a synesthetic way.
Below is a diagram of my day (click it to make it bigger).
March 14th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Hello,
Your circles of time look like mine (except the colors). I don’t have any color association with anything else. I am almost 36, and until a few years ago I thought everybody had this. Then I found out that none of my friends or family did, so I accepted it as one of my odd traits. And a couple of years ago, I discovered that it is actually a recognized condition with a name. My circle of numbers stretches and contracts depending on the need and it applies to all numbers. I have negatives and decimals as well. For time numbers I am always standing on the current time and future is ahead of me and the past is behind me.
I find it helpful sometimes and recently have used it as a conversation starter. I don’t know if it is related, but I am very slow reader and I don’t like arithmetic….. like adding tip to checks in restaurants. But I do a lot of advanced analytical mathematics and I am a professor in a quantitative field of science.
April 17th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
YES!!! Your year looks VERY similar to mine, except that it is upside-down. For me, December and January are at the bottom, and June and July are at the top. The colors are a bit different, however june and july are yellow for me too. The week for me is more of a timeline sequence, not so circular. same for the clock.
April 19th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
That is so interesting! I view the week in *exactly* the same way! Except I don’t see colors.
The way I see the months is completely different, however. I see it kind of like I’m looking above them, they go clockwise, and they don’t have colors either. I can also change my perspective of how I’m looking at them, but they don’t “rotate” for me either.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
My spacial synesthesia is like a ticker tape. It runs continuously in a long line without any breaks. At the end of the year when we go from December to January it still remains continuous. Each month is square and the days within the month are also squared off – very similar to a real calendar. The letters and numbers are colored according to my grapheme synesthesia. I do the same for the days of the week. It is also a continuous ticker tape like format. The only exception to this I have discovered is when I am going through an event very stressful like an immediate family member passing away, the days of the week are then one big block rather than individually blocked off. It’s literally due to the fact I’ve lost track of time and you’ve heard people say, “It’s all just one big day to me….” Well that’s what happens visually with my synesthsia. Year-wise my ticker tape starts in the late 1800s and only goes up to the current year (2009).
“My calendar does not rotate. It is always the same no matter what month it currently is. If I think of a month, I can sort of move myself into it, but retain the dominance of the static calendar.” This is beautifully put. Half the battle to having synesthesia is trying to translate what we see.
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Wow!!! Mine is totally different!!! hehe
I’m 17…I’ve just thought this was pretty normal.
My year sequence is pretty cool too.
and my number line.
but no distinct colors (black and white blocks), though that’d be cool. haha.
May 10th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Your months are like mine, except I see December behind my head and slightly to the left and January behind my head and to the right. Spring months run in a vague curve to the left of my head, and suddenly summer comes along and turns the cycle back in front of my head. Then the Fall months run parallel but opposite to Spring months. Then the cycle starts over again. And just like you, I can “move into” a month without breaking the cycle.
Your weeks are similar to mine in that I view the week in a similar shape as you do, except I view the week from a spatial position directly above the intangible region between Sunday and Monday. I can zoom in on any day but still retain the image of the entire week.
My spatial image of hours in a day is too complicated to describe. But what if you imagine a 24-hour clock? Do you think of that in the same way as a number line, or the same way as the days of the month?
Do you sometimes have trouble immediately telling how far off something is when you are told a certain month? Like if it May and somebody tells you something will happen in July, do you have trouble seeing that distance as anything but the distance in your spatial vision of the months? E-mail me the answers to the questions I’ve asked; I’m really interested in knowing more!
May 10th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Hi Jason,
You pose some really interesting questions. I’m intrigued! :)
“But what if you imagine a 24-hour clock? Do you think of that in the same way as a number line, or the same way as the days of the month?”
You know, I never really thought about this before, but now that you mention it… it’s really different. REALLY different.
I see a straight line that runs from 00:00 (very bottom) up to 23:59 (very top). The line is taller than my body and starts below my feet. And it’s just digits. No colors. Weird!
“Do you sometimes have trouble immediately telling how far off something is when you are told a certain month? Like if it May and somebody tells you something will happen in July, do you have trouble seeing that distance as anything but the distance in your spatial vision of the months?”
Another good question! And the answer is most assuredly YES. It’s impossible for me to think about time as anything other than distance. I immediately see them and “zoom” to them, so to speak. I think it’s so cool!
May 11th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Yes, my hours in a day are a continuous number line just like my days within a week. All the times are in different colors. And I see the times as they are written “12:15 AM” “4:03 PM”.
Regarding “do you have trouble seeing that distance as anything but the distance in your spatial vision of the months” – I’m not sure exactly what you mean by this but I’ll take a stab. If it’s January and someone tells me their baby is due in June, I know immediately she’s got six more months to go and in my head I “see” June. The word “June” (kelly green) and where it falls on my annual time line. If she is more specific and tells me her baby is due June 5th. I do the same thing – narrowing the visual into the 5th (black) of June (green).
May 11th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
This is so fun. I thought I was alone until a few years ago. My spacial synesthesia year calendar starts with December to my left shoulder and January to my right. Any reference
to a date I see it as it sits on the circle. Mine is like a large circle that I am above so I guess I would say that I kind of walk around it rather than it being above my head. I don’t see any color on it. I do move around depending on the time of year. so if it is June I spend most of my time in the June position but if someone gives me a date in the past or distant future I go back to the starting position between December and January.
I see time on a big white faced clock and go the any time that is refered to in conversation or thought on that large face.
May 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
OMG i thought i was the only one or that it was just freakin weird. Ive asked my friends if they see it like that and nobody i no has. Its really a suprise that there are other people that see it like this. But my year circle is the opposite of yours with january and december in the front and my numbers in a straight line going side ways but everything is similar.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:03 am
A lot of people, not all, that don’t have synesthesia are intrigued by what and how we see things. You’ve always got at least one person who is determined to “get to the bottom of this”. Ha! They insist its association (the word carrot should be orange) or they try and trick you with questions like you’re making it up or something just to be different. Frankly I’m intrigued what the heck those with OUT synesthesia see. I mean, talk about a lack of brain stimulation…it must be a dull world.
May 24th, 2009 at 8:32 am
O my gosh! I never thought there actually was such a thing! I always thought it was just me, but it really turns out there is a name for it. I pretty much see the year the same way. January is at the north and the months go along clockwise. And each month is coloured for me too! For me, i view this wheel from july, which is at the southern part of the wheel and i have a bit of a top view of it. January stretches the furthest away while july is the closest. And this wheel doesn’t move either but i can trace the months as the year goes by!
May 26th, 2009 at 2:24 am
I picture the months just the same way with Jan/Dec on the north, but the month “in my head” is the current month
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
holy crap. I have the same thing! I didn’t realize there was a name for it. thanks for the article.
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I have the same thing. My months are not a circle however but linear, 3D, and stretching out from January (south west of me) to December (north east). My weekdays are pretty much identical. My 24 hour timeline is precisely identical. My number line, and year line are too strange to describe. They only way think I could show them is to maybe walk them out in sand or something! They remain in the same pattern but their spacial locations change according to my age, and what year it is. For example, when I was 20 years old 25 was ahead of me by 5 numbers, and now that i’m 25 it is behind me by 5 numbers. 30 was closer to me at 20 years old than it is now at 25. If that makes any sense at all. My number line pattern repeats after 99, 199, 299 etc. I can also remember phone numbers, and similar numbers for years having only heard, or read them once.
July 26th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Hi,
I think I have a similar thing, I remember as a kid having to learn these verses and certain verses would have a direction associated with them, and the end of one would be linked to the start of the other and i dont think i actually saw the verses but just the ‘feeling’/seeing the verse as a whole going in some direction. For example, first one will be going upwards and then the next one to the left and the next one forward etc. I remember storing a whole essay(one side of A4 and a bit) in my head before, after looking at a paragraph once (maybe twice) writing it out once and moving onto the next paragraph. I’m not aware of ‘using’ this method of remembering things anymore :(. Although my friends have said I can remember things photographically sometimes, i’m not sure though. I wish I knew how it worked and how i can use it.
August 25th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Like many of you, I thought everyone saw things this way, then I found out about synesthesia.
My year is different–Jan-June goes down, then the summer goes across, then the fall goes down again to December. I tend to “zoom in” on whatever time of year it is.
I see my week very similarly to you, without the colors. Interesting that so many of us see it in a similar way.
I don’t see times at all. I wonder why!
I do, however, see numbers. They go uphill from 1, then around 20 take a turn to the right and continue uphill. The teens kind of go through the woods. Weird huh?
October 13th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I also have Sequence-Space synesthesia. I see my months In a giant circle. But it isn’t necessarily around me it’s more in front of me. And when I see the months january through july they’re all tiny and grouped together and then I get to August and it kind of curves around to a back row of months which are sept, oct, nov, and december. But my circle well its not even a circle I guess because in my number line it ends a December I see no connection between January and December and I don’t know what that means!
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I see this the days of the week and months in the same way. My days of th week are lines. The days from Monday to Friday are straight, but Saturday and sunday run horizontally. Also when I smell things I see colors and when I experience pain I taste flavors and see colors in geometric shapes. Strangley enough some, not all, of the letters of the alphabet and some numbers are colors. Some specific sounds also give me colrs in shapes. People think I’ve got a brain tumor, I came across this while surfing. Please can I get a site to do with this.
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
A brain tumor??! That’s crazy. Enjoy your “gift”. : )
October 25th, 2009 at 6:24 am
What about a number line with decimals? I begin seeing my regular number line (with correspondence to my grapheme color synesthesia)and then look down and discover that decimals are like at my feet and different colors than my regular numbers. And what about the seasons? When I see the seasons I see a big square with four different color covers. For example the fall months and the left bottom color are regularly different sades of reddish and brown, but are covered in an orange layer. Does anyone else see this or something other then the stuff already mentioned in this correspondence.
October 25th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I didn’t discover synesthesia till a couple of years ago–at about age 50. Numbers and letters in color, no. Music with a smell or a taste, no. But a visual picture/map of the seasons and months of the year, the time of day, the day of the week, numbers, letters–absolutely. I thought everyone’s January was at upper right and that August, on its way to September, made a sharp left turn. It just makes sense. I simply can’t do math without placing numbers on my mental graph, same with ages. Twenty years old versus eighty, big gap, with some vertical climbs and horizontal runs in between. I ran this past my husband of 30 years and he looked at me like I was crazy. But, when I asked one of my teenaged daughters where April is she jabbed the air. I tried it with the other two daughters, and they did the same. Tried it with my husband and he said we were all nuts. But I can see April even as I type these words, lower right. How the heck do people know where their numbers are if they can’t see them? How do they keep track of birthdays–the November people for instance–if they can’t stick them in the November area, which is brown now that I think of it, located at left at about shoulder height? This seems obvious, but everyone, even non-spatial-synesthetes, SEE the alphabet, right?
October 26th, 2009 at 7:26 am
“but everyone, even non-spatial-synesthetes, SEE the alphabet, right?” LOL – ah, no they don’t. I’m with you. How these “normals” function in the world is beyond me. They think we are all nuts and frankly I’m starting to wonder if it’s not the other way around. : ) It doesn’t surprise me your daughters have synethesia as well. It’s highly inherited from female to female. And thank you – November is indeed brown. : )
October 28th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I was just wondering, does anyone taste words of names I do. For example the name Rose tastes like cotton candy.
October 31st, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hey Ro! I taste some words, yes, but it’s not as specific as yours. For me it is more like certain words or shapes of words just taste better than others (if that makes any sense lol).
elc, that’s awesome the way you discovered your daughters’ synesthesia. It’s the same way I discovered that I got it from my mom! I asked her what color 5 was and she blurted out “green!” before she even knew what was happening, hehe. My ex-husband thought I was crazy when I mentioned that D and G were green.
Kris, hey, my November is brownish too! :) I don’t think it means anything, that your months don’t connect in a circle. We’re all different. My dad sees his months and years in this crazy cubic shape that interconnects and comes apart – nothing at all like my circle!
Hello again and thanks to all of you who have contributed to the conversation around here. Synesthetes coming together is such an awesome thing. :)
-Kelley
November 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Mine is a lot like Nicola’s. January to my right, December to my left. No colors. I think of it kind of like a spiral because December runs into the next January, not the one that already exists. My recollection of past years, though, is more linear. The beginning of each decade makes a 90 degree turn. For example, the 80s I see as a line coming toward me. 1990 was a 90 degree turn to the left. 2000 took a 90 degree turn to the right. What I find interesting, though, is that all of the years before I was born (1975) are in a line that’s kind of winding. There aren’t decade turns like I see from birth to present.
I just discovered this had a name today. I thought I was just weird (well, I still am, but that’s irrelevant). Nice to “meet” others like me.
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I just realized I had this a couple of years ago, but haven’t researched it until today. I used to ask people if they had a “calendar in their heads” and they thought I was weird. I can see hours of the day, weeks, months, and years but no colors are associated. Are there any tips out there on how you can use this to your advantage, say in remembering historical dates or events? I have not really put my mind to this yet, but it is fascinating.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 am
Robin – I’ve never been able take advantage of my time-line/calendar in my head and put it to any great use. I can recall people’s birthdays as far back as childhood friends but frankly at age 50 that’s probably more annoying at this point than useful. :)
December 13th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
hi!! I did not know I had this until I read A Mango Shaped Space this past summer. I guess I never thought about my spatial synesthesia–because I thought it was just my creative way of processing information–i am a very visual learner.
Because it is December, I am currently in December with January to my left. June/Jul/ August are across my circle. I move along the months (in Jul/August I am facing December/January), but December is my go to month–my base month you could say. Days of the week follow the same pattern. They form a curved line, and I move from day to day. I have always placed birthdays in their months, by their day.
Like most of you have said, I can zoom in and pan out with ease. I also see age in a line, as well as the alphabet.
When I try to explain this to my family, they just think I am crazy and laugh =X.
I just wish I had more! I am jealous of those who see colors for letters and can taste sounds, etc! Absolutely amazing! You are very lucky :).
December 14th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I love you guys.
For the heck of it, I posted something on my FaceBook about synesthesia, which prompted skeptical responses from, so far, a niece and a cousin.
I don’t seem to be able to explain myself to them very well. I had to come back to this site for comfort.
Trying, just for example, NOT to see the entire year in front of me when I’m remembering someone’s birthday makes my stomach start to hurt. It’s like trying to stop thinking…you just can’t.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Hehe, elc, I know what you mean. Most people are skeptical. One of my best friends – I’m pretty sure she doesn’t believe anything I say when it comes to my synesthesia!
There are some groups on Facebook for synesthetes, though. You might find some comfort in them. :)
December 24th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
This is wonderful! So many synesthetes here, and so many different ways of seeing. My thanks to all for helping me figure some things out. Firstly, my year is clockwise with Dec/Jan to the North, Jun/Jul to the South. I never realized this before, but the entirety of the summer feels like a long dip on a roller coaster ride as I prepare to climb up the hill that is Fall. Like all of you, I can zoom into and change perspective, but the year remains rigid. What I wasn’t precisely sure of is where ‘I’ sit in the year. Well, my default position is in the current month, and your comments helped me to realize that. I don’t have color, and I’m so envious of those who do. It would certainly brighten up and make more interesting all these crazy shapes in my head. My week is counterclockwise and similar to most here (isn’t it weird how common that is to us, while many other things vary?). I won’t go into all the quirks of my number and date sequences, but there are similarities to many of you. Suffice it to say, my calendar can go as far back or as far forward as I care to imagine, but always defaults to the present.
To those of you wondering how this mental ability might help us, a recent study shed some promising light. Let’s hope they find more!
http://www.physorg.com/news180085439.html
January 1st, 2010 at 8:46 pm
David, thanks for sharing! It is so great to talk with other people who share this form of synesthesia. Your calendar year sounds cool – I wish mine was like a roller coaster! :)
Also, if I say, if you want to talk about all the quirks of your sequences, go right ahead! The more I talk/think about my synesthetic experiences, the more I learn about them and discover things I may not have realized before (like your default position).
Oh, and thanks for sharing that article! I love getting my hands on new information and perspectives on synesthesia.
Cheers!
January 5th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
My calendar is similar to yours, minus the color. It is, however, more of an oval on it’s side with Jan.-August spreading counter clockwise along the top of the arc then Sept. – Dec. down the left side. Dec. and Jan. come together when I think of that specific time period.
My hours of the day is an elongated oval with 6:00am at the top, traveling clockwise to 6:00pm at the bottom and back up to 6:00am.
My days of the week chart is exactly like yours but upside down with Saturday and Sunday curving along the bottom along the bottom instead of the top of the oval.
I also have a chart for numerals 1-100 with 1-10 going straight up, then the teens arc over to the left to 20. 20-29 go single file back back down the other side with 20 at the top and 29 at the bottom. 30-39 goes back up just to the right of the 20’s. each subsequent set, 30-39, 40-49, etc goes from bottom to top each forming it’s own straight line to the right of the last one until 90-100 with 100 at the top right position of the chart.
When I’m thinking of any specific number I pinpoint it in space in it’s assigned place the numbers 1-20 sort of have their own place but don’t get in the way of the others.
I realized this wasn’t common one day when a friend said her day was not going well and used an upward hand motion to signify the passage of hours. I said, no, the day goes this way and then tried to explain. Over the years, I have tried to explain these systems a few times and never have found anyone who seemed to know what I was talking about, so this is great!
January 24th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Am i the only person on here that can’t do this???? I dont even think i have synesthesia!!!! (wish i did, though!!!! especially the sound-sight and sound-taste ones…) well, some of my numbers have personalities, but mainly i just know that odd #’s are girls and evens are boys, and that five is a little crabby, seven is preppy-ish, and i think those are my only 2 with actual personalities. anyways, cool!
January 25th, 2010 at 8:33 am
“I dont even think i have synesthesia!!!!” Wait a minute here Cube. Your fives are crabby and you think that is normal??! LOL – Here’s a test for you. Go ask five people today if their numbers have personalities and report back. I can ASSURE you they’ll look at you like you’ve lost your mind. There are different forms of synesthesia and you definitely have it.
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
CUBE! Yes, you have synesthesia, and Yvonne said — there are different types. :)
Check out Ordinal Linguistic Personificaiton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_linguistic_personification
:)
February 7th, 2010 at 2:55 am
I’m Russian, so this year as a circle is common for all. The year is like a circle for me (like the one you painted above), it runs counter-clockwise, and now that it is February I am located at the top of it. As the year goes by, I move along the circle, month by month. So in summer I will be at the bottom of the circle looking up at January. The winter and the summer months are more horizontal, while the spring and autumn look like a steep part of the circle, but this is only until while I am not in them. When I am in October, the fall does not look steep. There is no break in the circle between December and January but there is a kind of thin line bar between them. When I am told a certain month, I see it on the circle. Now July is down there, at the bottom of the circle. A month is a continuous number line. And a day, too. A month is rather horizontal, but a day starts from above (morning) and ends at the bottom (late evening). A day is to the right of me. Numbers 1-10 go kind of a line in front of me, from left to right, from the bottom upwards. I take a detached look at them. Zero is lower than me. There is a slight angular bending at 10, and the numbers continue their steep climb to 100, then another bending at 100, and hundreds run, like a smoke from a chimney, going right, and more horizontal, until they reach 1000. I am happy to find people who have time and spatial images like me. But if their spatial image is different (say, a year is not a circle but ‘z’-shaped) and I try to imagine their time and spatial system, this drives me crazy.
February 7th, 2010 at 3:11 am
I am just wondering. Is there any connection between synesthesia and good spelling ability? Is spelling words easy for you?
February 8th, 2010 at 7:47 am
I am an above average speller but not a great one. There are no spelling-bee trophies on my mantel.
: ) However, I am a good proof reader so maybe there is some connection….
February 11th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Hi,
I have the same thing, except I dont feel ‘connected’ to my timelines, i am exterior to them. Some people have said they move along their dateline but I am always static and see the time or date always as distant.
Like Kris, december and January for me are not linked, and I am positioned somewhere in between the two and I always stay there. For example, today is the 11th of feb, but I always see it ahead of me in its place on the date-line/circle, i am not in/on the 11th feb. This is the same with days of the week, im always between sunday and monday, and with numbers, i am based between 0 and -1. Does anybody else have this?
A lot of you seem to be very clear about the arrangement of your numbers etc, and I am too but when I think really hard about it mine do not make sense at all, numbers overlap each other and two numbers can be completely distanced but at the same time on top of each other. I find it very confusing, but also really interesting!
February 11th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
also, I have been reading on various websites that people with synesthesia are meant to have a better memory, but I have a terrible memory! I can never remember dates or events of things, even though I remember them happening. I think that maybe they dont link directly on my number line, ie. they are not in the same format. does this make sense to anyone?
February 13th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
With numbers I am based somewhere between 8 and 10, most often. But I am not placed inside the number line. I am at some short distance. No, I am not clear about my numbers. I think I can see myself above 10, like when I think of age, but I guess I am never above my actual age.
In regard to the memory, I would not be able to recall what the weather was two days ago or the same time last year or the events of last year unless that had relation to what really mattered to me.
I can re-read books because I do not remember them clearly. I have poor auditory memory. I need to learn foreign words by writing them in a target language. But after I learnt them, I will almost always spell them correctly any time in the future.
I scored 19 out of 20 on a memory test, when 20 pairs of words were presented. I created pictures in my mind. But then, I think everyone does that (creating pictures) when they need to memorize.
However, retelling texts was an ordeal for me. Thanks for reading what I wrote. While reading other people’s stories on this site, I felt like I was visiting old friends.
February 13th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Does Virtual Reality software (like green pictures at the bottom of this web site http://neuro.bcm.edu/eagleman/syn.html) make you feel somewhat antsy? I tried the software, I wanted to place my time units where I felt they are. But I kind of felt sick when the virtual world pivoted. Is it the same for someone?
March 16th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Beta, sorry it took me so long to reply, but I know exactly what you mean about the virtual reality thing on the synesthesia battery! It was actually somewhat difficult for me to complete that, even though I know exactly where my months are, because it was just very jarring to look at. Weird!
March 17th, 2010 at 8:22 am
I was reading about synesthesia and I read about the spatial-sequence kind. At first I thought “omg I have that”, but I want to be certain. I see months in a sort of straight time line map. They stretch out into years, and then the years stretch out and continue century after century. The months have colors, but they aren’t extremely distinguishable. January is red, July is purple, December is light blue, etc. And whenever I am thinking about one month in particular, I will zoom in on that month on the map and then I will see its days. I see this same thing for the alphabet, the days of the week, and numbers. And all of these “maps” have a yellowy-brown background, like the color of parchment paper.
Some names also seem to have colors, but not all of them. For example, Joe is gray-brown, Sam is blue, Sara is orangey-red, Meredith is green, etc. I’m not blinded by these colors whenever I think of these names, but I vaguely see them in my head.
Is any of this a sign of synesthesia? I’m very curious.
March 17th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
You had me at, “I see months in a sort of straight time line map…” The other descriptions weren’t even necessary. : ) Yes, you have it. Not only spatial but you also have Graphe-color synesthesia.
March 18th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I studied synesthesia in college and never heard about this particular aspect. When I did recently read about it I thought, “Well, that’s silly, everyone thinks that way.” Not so. In fact I’ve only met one other person so far who, upon my asking, has told me they see the months and weekdays in a circle, and that’s my mom. My year and week are almost exactly like those pictured above, but I don’t have any colors associated, and my week is actually elliptical. Both are laid out before me kind of like a plate on a table, and I can imagine myself around them at different angles (depending on the time of year or day of the week), but their general alignment never changes. My mother, strangely, has her January in the 1 o’clock position and her months run clockwise, so it’s not something I ever picked up from her. I don’t have any other synesthetic tendencies (wish I did).
March 19th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
froogles, you are definitely synesthetic. Welcome to the club~! :)
Becky, isn’t it funny how you think “everyone’s like this” and then it turns out that they’re not? It was a similar experience for me. It’s all so interesting!
March 20th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Sweet! Hehehe I feel special now (: