Do you TASTE numbers or see letters as COLOURS? Take this online test to reveal if you have synaesthesia
- Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which two or more of the five senses normally experienced separately are involuntarily joined together
- The test begins by asking generic questions about your sensations
- It then reveals the likelihood that you may have synaesthesia
- You can select the types of synaesthesia you believe you have including colours in sounds, tastes, sexual experiences and more
- Once selected, you complete a five-minute test around selected conditions
- This is designed to test whether you have synaesthesia, and to what extent
- Scores for each test are then used to predict if you are a synaesthete
- Site was recently used to discover how magnets play a role in synaesthesia
If you’ve ever looked at a number and automatically thought of a specific colour, or seen a letter and tasted a distinctive flavour, then you may be a synaesthete.
Synaesthesia is a condition in which people - including singers Pharrell Williams and Lady Gaga - report an overlap in their senses.
Now an online test can reveal if you have the condition, and to what extent your senses overlap.
Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which two or more of the five senses normally experienced separately, are involuntarily joined together. The online test, called The Synesthesia Battery, was designed to test whether a users has a form of synaesthesia, and to what extent
The online test was created by neuroscientist David Eagleman and is called The Synesthesia Battery.
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There is no specific form of synesthesia - any of the senses can overlap to create unexpected sensations.
Some synaesthetes experience colour when they hear sounds or read words. Others experience tastes, smells or shapes.
WHAT IS SYNAESTHESIA?
Some synaesthetes experience colour when they hear sounds or read words. Others experience tastes, smells or shapes
Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which two or more senses experienced separately are involuntarily joined together.
For instance, some synaesthetes experience colour when they hear sounds or read words. Others experience tastes, smells or shapes.
Some people are born with synaesthesia, while others experience it after a stroke, or while using psychedelic drugs such as LSD. Famous synaesthetes include singers Pharrell Williams and Lady Gaga.
There have also been studies in which researchers claimed to have taught people to be synaesthetic - and as a result it is a widely contested condition.
Reports claim it can affect as many as one in 23 people and has been linked with high-levels of creativity and intelligence.
Some people are born with synaesthesia, while others experience it after a stroke, or while using psychedelic drugs such as LSD.
There have also been studies in which researchers claimed to have taught people to become synaesthetic - and as a result it is a contested condition.
It should be noted that there are no negative side effects from being a synaesthete.
Reports claim it can affect as many as one in 23 people and has long been linked with high-levels of creativity and intelligence.
The test begins by asking seven generic questions about the user’s sensations. These include: ‘Do numbers or letters cause you to have a colour experience?’ and ‘Do weekdays and months have specific colours? Example: Does July always mean Navy Blue to you? Is Wednesday always orange?’
It then reveals the likelihood that they may have synaesthesia - and the types they have.
Once signed in the user can select the types of synaesthesia they believe they have, based on the generic questions, including colours in sounds, tastes, sexual experiences and more.
They then take part in a five-minute test around their selected conditions – known as The Synaesthesia Battery.
For example, it asks users to select the colour they associate with numbers one to 10.
A total of 30 of these numbers are shown before a users is asked questions about how vividly they can picture certain scenarios.
This test is known as the ‘Vividness of Visual Imagery’ test.
A final test, called 'Projector Associator' attempts to determine what form of synaesthesia a user has.
Projectors and Associators are proposed forms of synesthesia that describe how people experience their ‘synesthetic percept’.
The user can select the types of synaesthesia they believe they have, including colours in sounds, tastes, sexual experiences and more. They then take part in a five-minute test around their selected conditions. This involves matching numbers to colours (example pictured)
COULD FRIDGE MAGNETS CAUSE SYNAESTHESIA?
Researchers used data from 6,588 registered users to determine which colours are most commonly associated with which letters (pictured)
The Synesthesia Battery site was recently used to discover how fridge magnets may play a role in the condition as children.
Researchers from the Department of Psychology at Stanford University used data from 6,588 registered users to determine which colours are most commonly associated with which letters.
They then compared these colour-letter matches to fridge magnets sold by Fisher-Price between 1971 and 1990.
The results revealed that at least 6 per cent (400 out of the 6588 participants) learnt ‘many of their matches’ from the Fisher-Price set.
Among those born in the decade after the toy began to be manufactured, the proportion of synesthetes with learned letter-colour pairings was closer to 15 per cent.
But among those born five years or more before it was manufactured, none of the colour-letter matches were aligned with the colours used in the set.
‘Analysis of the letter-colour matching data suggests the only difference between synesthetes with matches to the toy and those without is exposure to the stimulus,’ explained the paper.
‘This indicates learning of letter-colour pairings from external [sources] can occur in a substantial fraction of synesthetes, and are consistent with the hypothesis that synesthesia is a kind of conditioned mental imagery.’
The authors did point out, however, that there may have been other cues – such as cultural influences, or other popular toys or magnet sets that played a role.
They also said their findings don’t suggest that colourful toys cause synaesthesia. Instead the associations of people already predisposed to the condition can be influenced by external factors.
The results revealed that at least 6% learnt ‘many of their matches’ from a Fisher-Price fridge magnet set. Among those born in the decade after the toy was made, the proportion of synesthetes was closer to 15%. But among those born five years or more before it was manufactured, none of the matches were aligned
A user is asked to match a total of 30 numbers to colours before being asked questions about how vividly they can picture certain scenarios. This test is known as the ‘Vividness of Visual Imagery’ test (pictured). A final test called 'Projector Associator' attempts to determine what type of synaesthete they are
For people classified as 'associator', they see coloured letters in their mind; they know each letter has a colour, but they don't actually see colour on the page.
Meanwhile, 'projectors' physically see the colour projected onto the page in front of them.
The tests are designed to check if a person’s colours match consistently.
A score below 1.0 is ranked as synaesthetic, and non-synaethetes that use memory or free association, for example, typically score in the range of a 2.0.
A perfect score of 0.0 means there is no difference in the colours selected on each successive presentation of the same letter.
An accuracy percentage of correct answers in the range of 85 to 100 typically indicates synaesthesia.
Those below 85 per cent typically rule out synaesthesia.
The ‘Vividness of Visual Imagery’ tests quantifies how vividly different people can visualise objects and scenes.
A score above three suggests a higher level of vividness relative to the general population, and the researchers use this questionnaire to understand whether synaesthetes are better at mental imagery than others.
And in the Projector Associator test, a positive score is classified as a projector and a negative score is classified as an associator.
These scores are a prediction only because the test involves self-reporting questionnaires in which there could be a margin of error.
The Synesthesia Battery site was recently used to discover how fridge magnets may play a role in the condition as children.
The tests are designed to check if a person’s colours match consistently. A score below 1.0 is ranked as synaesthetic, and non-synaethetes that use memory or free association typically score in the range of a 2.0 (example shown). A score of 0.0 means there is no difference in the colours selected on each test
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