Health Synaesthesia

[BarneyBent]

Anybody got it? It's basically when certain stimuli illicit responses in another sense, e.g. the letter "a" might appear red, hearing the name "John" might make you taste sausages, hearing music might make you smell things, that sort of thing.

For me, days of the week have colours. Thursdays are grey-green, Fridays are orange-red, Saturdays are white, Sundays are grey, Mondays grey-blue, etc. Months have colours as well. I don't know if I have proper synaesthesia, because it's not a particularly strong effect, it's occasionally inconsistent (Wednesday and December don't have exact colours, they tend to switch between a few or have none at all at times), and seems to have gotten weaker as I've grown older.

Anyway, it's a pretty cool (but for some, debilitating) condition, so I thought it would be interesting to see if anybody has experienced it (drug experiences aside! ).

 

[r dub 19]

Wouldn't this just be a conditioned response?

 

[BarneyBent]

Wouldn't this just be a conditioned response?

No, it's a genuine stimulus processing glitch (though how responses are assigned could be a matter of conditioning). It used to be put down to simple associations for people with overactive imaginations, but it's been shown to be far more than that. There are some reasonable docos on YouTube which go into more depth. I find it fascinating.

 

[rossi]

What about the day of the week has a colour for you though? Like do you associate the colour with the day, see the name of the day as a colour etc?

 

[BarneyBent]

What about the day of the week has a colour for you though? Like do you associate the colour with the day, see the name of the day as a colour etc?

Just the thought of the day. The name doesn't appear as the colour, I just think of Saturdays as white, Sundays as grey, etc.

 

[Schulzenfest]

So what, you walk around all Sunday seeing everything as grey? Or it just makes you think about the colour grey?

 

[grimlock]

What a lame superpower

I read an Oliver Sacks book Musicophilia about music and the human brain, and in it he talks a little bit about musical synaesthesia. Do you have that as well? E.g. A middle C will be associated with orange

 

[anti_]

I think it's just me, but i always think of carrots when i hear the name Trent.

dude i have the exact same thing!

 

[omit]

dude i have the exact same thing!

I thought I was the only one

 

[anti_]

rejoice!

 

[Mooster7]

What a lame superpower

I read an Oliver Sacks book Musicophilia about music and the human brain, and in it he talks a little bit about musical synaesthesia. Do you have that as well? E.g. A middle C will be associated with orange

I've always had that. The bass notes are in the darker spectrum and the trebly ones are up in the brighter colors. It's really hard to explain to people, but when I'm listening to music or playing guitar I can see colors in my mind. This also occurs when I'm trying to remember an exact tune I've heard in the past. It works pretty well for me despite having deuteranomalous color blindnesss.

Oh, and I should add that I don't just hear farts, I can smell them sometimes too.

 

[BarneyBent]

So what, you walk around all Sunday seeing everything as grey? Or it just makes you think about the colour grey?

Haha, no. Just that if you asked me to think about what I was going to do on Sunday, for example, I would not only think about what's happening that day, but I'd also get a completely separate impression of grey. If I just think about the day, in isolation (so not the activities I might do), I just get an impression of grey. I don't actually get anything just by it being the day itself, I have to think about it, and it doesn't spill over onto any associated activity.

What a lame superpower

I read an Oliver Sacks book Musicophilia about music and the human brain, and in it he talks a little bit about musical synaesthesia. Do you have that as well? E.g. A middle C will be associated with orange

I'm reading that at the moment. Really interesting book. I haven't got up to the music synaesthesia bit yet though. But yeah, I don't get anything like that, I don't have perfect pitch either (which I'd image would be associated with it).

Neurology and neurobiology fascinate me though. It's the area I want to work in. I'm planning on reading a lot more Oliver Sacks when I get the chance too.

 

[rossi]

I think it's just me, but i always think of carrots when i hear the name Trent.

Me too. What are the odds!

 

[Stan Van Gundy]

When I eat peas I taste purple. Not joking.

 

[Opportunity Cost]

Peas.

 

[Stan Van Gundy]

What does purple taste like?

What I meant was when I eat peas I see purple, so I've always associated peas with tasting like purple. Probably makes no sense but yeah it's hard to describe.

 

[electricfeel]

My boyfriend is like that. He thinks people are certain colours, which I guess could just be colour association of some sort and sometimes he even feels colours, like the guy above saying peas taste like purple. He was more prominent when he was younger though.

I don't know if this is synaesthesia but when I'm asleep on the couch and someone has just walked past me, I can feel it in my back and it tickles :S

 

[anti_]

dunno about you guys, but when i think of bon jovi, i get the thought of a thousand knives stabbing into my head repetitively.

weird huh?

 

[Bulldog Breed]

For me, days of the week have colours. Thursdays are grey-green, Fridays are orange-red, Saturdays are white, Sundays are grey, Mondays grey-blue, etc.

This happens with me too.

Monday - red
Tuesday - green
Wednesday - purple
Thursday - yellow
Friday - orange

I got it from my early years in primary school though. We had 'sharing' where you go up and and share something with the class and our teacher made up five coloured cards with the days of the week on them. Each day had students' names on them which meant it was their turn to share. Ever since then I've associated colours with days.

I also associate things with certain names like someone else mentioned. The name Dylan makes me think of ham for example.

 

[r dub 19]

I guess I have a mild case of this, when I hear the name trent I think of carrots.

 

[St 07]

When I drink beer I think of regret

 

[Schulzenfest]

I had a thing where I once peeled potatoes when already sick, then for the next month peeling potatoes made me sick. That's just association though, not this synaeasthesia thing.