Psych 101: 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. "

 Moving these articles to my main Psych 101: Account for better management. Yes,  This article is mine.