More Than One Kind?

My uncle and one of my closest friends are the only other people I’ve met that have some form of synesthesia. My uncle and I both have sound-color synesthesia but my friend Celia has a rarer form that’s called number-spatial form synesthesia. It’s even harder to explain in detail but the gist of it is that when she sees number lines or lists of numbers, in her head she sees a 3 dimensional line stretching out with the higher numbers further away. Each number has its own level of exposure and shadow which changes the higher the numbers go.

There are dozens of documented forms of synesthesia, because of the numerous combinations of senses. What most people don’t know is that there are more senses that can be affected by synesthesia than just the basic five.

• Time
• Space
• Emotion
• Personality
• Language

To name a few.

Some of these don’t seem like senses but are still classified as synesthetic experiences because they are paired with a sensation they normally wouldn't be. The experiences are also still automatic and involuntary. When the definition of synesthesia was expanded beyond sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch, the combinations of sense went from about 25 to an almost infinite amount. Types of synesthesia are still being discovered, especially with recent research.  

The types of synesthesia that involve more obscure combinations of senses are usually rarer than forms that mix the basic five.  You can read about other forms of synesthesia here.

Or you could just wait for me to blog about them ;)