Synesthesia Types (A Comprehensive Guide)
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OptimistMinds
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Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
Science described over 80 different types of synesthesia. Synesthesia is actually a blend of 5 senses.
If someone claims that he or she can see sounds in colors or can touch the smells, it is a perfect example of synesthesia.
As we all have 5 senses that can be called classical senses, despite these senses, we also have more channels of perceptions.
Various feelings like emotions, hunger, body position in space, and others may also trigger other synesthesia types.
In this article, we will discuss, An overview of the different types of synesthesia, Some examples of synesthesia, Do some activities to explore our synesthetic abilities and learn more about how to train our synesthesia.
Science described over 80 different types of synesthesia.
Synesthesia is not a disorder; in fact it is a neurological phenomenon.
Synesthesia is a condition in which one sense stimulates automatically, and becomes the cause of unintentional activation of the second one.
It is quite possible that every cognitive concept or sensor experiences the various combinations.
If you can see music as colors, it is a synesthesia type.
Considering letters as personalities is another synesthesia type.
Sometimes, people having synesthesia type can see the numbers in colors or can hear the colors or even touch the smells.
Awareness of Synesthesia Type:
Although as much as research is being conducted, numerous synesthesia types are being reported more frequently in research papers and other media, but still many people are unaware of their synesthetic abilities.
The general public might don’t even know about this phenomenon.
Apart from many other reasons why many people are unaware of their synesthesia types, lack of perceptual sensitivity, or absence of sensory awareness as the main reason for it.
Meditation, the Cultivator of Synesthesia:
People, who are used to meditating, are more likely to become Synesthesia type, as figured out in a study. Prof. Eagleman and prof. cystic, the pioneers of research on synesthesia, have stated that “Don’t take LSD, but learn to meditate if you hope to experience Synesthesia.”
Learn to meditate, if you want to discover all types of synesthesia, and if you hope to experience Synesthesia type.
You can find more than 150 synesthesia meditation exercises in the Sensorium that can help you to boost your Synesthesia Type.
These exercises are a combination of customary mindfulness and synesthetic exploration.
By doing these exercises you can be able to discover various synesthesia types and will become familiar with these types.
Frequent Synesthesia Types:
Some types of synesthesia are very rare, while some others are very common.
A major part of people, who are experiencing the Synesthesia types, are experiencing the Grapheme-Color Synesthesia or Chromesthesia.
These two types are more frequent than other Synesthesia Types.
People, who are experiencing one synesthesia type, were found to be aware of or experiencing other types of synesthesia as well.
Researchers studied certain Synesthesia Types more than others.
Some synesthetic forms are also easier to express with words. Talking about the colors of letters is more comprehensive than to express the sound of color.
Most of us can easily recognize the Red color, but recognizing the sound of color is something very difficult for common people as everyone is not very much aware of the musical keynotes.
In our daily life, we can explore and experience many different synesthesia types, and become aware of them.
The songs of the birds, The Letter’s colors, sound shapes, and many others are examples of the Synesthesia.
Synesthesia and Ideasthesia:
Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which one sense stimulates the other senses, whereas, when a concept or an Idea triggers a real sensory involvement, it is called an Ideasthesia.
For example, an alphabet may be superficial in a color.
Actually a number or a letter is not a real sense; instead, it is an abstract thought or Idea. Persons assign colors or sound to them.
Sometimes, some concepts become the triggering force of other concepts.
Such as a letter can be considered as a gender but in reality both the gender and letter are not sensory information, instead, both are actually “Ideas”.
Synesthesia, a blend of classical senses:
5 senses are believed to be classical senses, which are hearing, smelling, touching, seeing, and testing.
But actually we have more than 5 senses. Only the touch sense consists of numerous senses.
Pain, pressure, and temperature are examples of the touch sense. So we can say that the 5 senses are basically the categories of the senses.
It simplifies the understanding of these senses and therefore we will call it classical senses.
Let’s discuss the sensory Synesthesia types. When the 5 senses blend each other, the person will resonate with synesthesia.
It can be a type of synesthesia if we talk about any combination of the senses. One can mix all his or her senses by Synesthesia meditation.
You can find the Sense Sphere in the field of Synesthesia.
Synesthesia meditation methods will help you to explore various synesthesia types along with the synesthetic mindfulness.
In the following we will talk about some synesthetic blends of 5 senses.
Chromesthesia:
Persons having this Synesthesia type mix sounds and colors.
They can see sounds like singing birds or honking cars. They also can see colors coming out of music, motion, and shapes.
These experiences differ from person to person. There are general inclinations about the awareness of sound.
High-pitch sounds are associated with small shapes and bright colors, whereas deep-pitch sounds tend to be dark and large.
These relations can apply to everyone. It is the same even in chimpanzees.
Mostly sounds arouse colors; sensitivity of movement, luminance, smells and tastes can also be evoked by sounds and music.
Auditory-Tactile Synesthesia:
This synesthesia type activates the sense of texture while hearing a sound.
People having this synesthesia feel like they can touch the music with their fingers.
We can name some artists of the modern era that are supposed to have this kind of Synesthesia.
Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, and some others are examples of it. You can find many different exercises to sharpen your mind for synesthetic experiences.
You can draw the shapes that are appearing in your mind while listening to the various kinds of sounds.
By doing this practice, you can discover mindful experiences for this kind of synesthesia.
Other Sensory Types of Synesthesia:
Seeing: (When Colors start to Sing)
Our visual senses can trigger other senses.
When we see colors or motions, our other senses can be activated and we can listen to colors or even smell or taste the colors and motions.
A recent research claims that at least 22% of human beings may have this Synesthesia Type.
Testing & Smelling: (When meals can be the Work of Art)
Usually, we prefer to eat too fast in order to save time. We might think that time spent on eating is not worth it.
But actually this is not the case.
If we give proper time to our meals, and experience the taste and smell properly, we will find that it will stimulate our senses of feeling colors and shapes as well.
Scents or odors affect our minds, memories, and emotions directly.
The area of the brain, where our memory is being stored, is considered as one of the oldest senses of organisms.
Tactile Synesthesia: (When fingers are eyes)
Our skin is our biggest organ and most active organ.
The touching sense is so diverted. It is a combination of many different senses like pressure, pain, and temperature.
If Tactile Synesthesia is activated, touching sense can trigger the practice of shapes and colors.
Some other kind of sensual stimulation can also be enjoyed with synesthetic experiences.
You can feel the colors of a feather that touches on your neck. For having this Synesthesia type at its level best you have to practice synesthesia meditations.
By practicing this kind of meditation, you can train your mind to remain in the present moment and enjoy observations.
Body and Mind Observations:
Many different perceptions are the sources of our bodies and minds. There are still many types of Synesthesia to explore.
In the following, we will discuss the sensory experiences of our mind and body.
extrospection
For your safety and survival, you always need to know what the correct location of your organs is in the space.
And where are they now?
To know where your branches or members are right now?
It is a natural phenomenon for you. This is all because of the extrospection.
Our muscles send information to our brain through our nerve cells, about the whereabouts of our exterior organs.
The position and the movement of your left leg can encourage other senses like shapes, colors, tastes, and smells, or any other senses that you call the name of it.
Interoception:
Internal sensations experience is called Interoception.
Feeling hungry, feeling your own heartbeat, or urge to visit the toilet are all examples of interoception.
You can say that it is an internal perception of our body. Not very often you can read the synesthesia types involving interoception.
Other senses like the perception of colors, shapes, tastes, or touch senses can be evoked by them.
One of the essential components of our mindfulness training is Synesthetic breathing.
You can find more exercises in the way of mindfulness.
Additionally, if you will go through the category of “me and my environment” in the garden of Synesthesia, you can discover more about the internal body perception’s synesthesia.
Pain:
Pain can be defined in many different types.
It can be short and sharp, it can also be long-lasting and chronic one. Another source of synesthesia can be Pain.
If we hit our foot in a door, or our head on a signboard, it will result in spiky flashy bright visual perceptions.
To overcome this perception, we can divert our attention to some other synesthetic perception.
By doing this, the pain may cease a little bit.
FAQ about Synthesia Type
Can someone have multiple types of synesthesia?
he answer to this question is yes.
In fact, if someone has one form of synesthesia he or she is more likely to have more forms of synesthesia.
For instance, if someone has synesthesia of colored letters, he is more likely to have color months synesthesia as well.
Do experts think that synesthesia is a disorder?
According to psychologists, synesthesia is not a disorder.
Many researchers have a strong belief and they have shown through studies that people having synesthesia type, can perform well on various memory and IQ tests.
Group of people having any Synesthesia type is not mentally ill.
They tested on various scales for checking schizophrenia, psychosis, delusions, and other disorders that were found negative.
Can someone have minor synesthesia?
Minor Synesthesia is more common than the projected synesthesia type.
Associated synesthesia is a mild form of synesthesia which is very common in people.
Synesthesia is a kind of spectrum thing instead of a black-and-white thing.
While comparing people on scales that tell about the synesthesia, you can find that some people are having very strong synesthesia, and some have very minor, while some others have none.
Reference:
Synesthesia.com: “types of synesthesia”.
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