How to Tell if You have synesthesia

Knowing if you have synesthesia is a matter of recognizing degrees. Although a normal person might occasionally see something and be reminded of a sound and a taste, for a synesthete, these experiences are much more consistent and powerful.

Instructions

1. Understand that synesthesia is the mingling of different types of sensory data in the brain. Synesthesia brains might attribute a certain color to a certain sound, or a smell to a word.

2. Ask yourself if you ever mingle senses. Does a certain piece of music sound "silver" to you? Can you "hear" the smell of fresh baked cookies?

3. Think about whether certain words convey powerful sensory impressions. Can you taste the names of certain people, for example?

4. Does your sense-mingling remain constant? If the word "bracket" sounds scarlet one day, orange another day, and conveys no color on a third day, you probably don't have synesthesia. With synesthesia, the sensory impression remains more or less the same day after day.

5. Gauge how strong your sensory impressions are. Are there certain people in your life who are extremely hard to listen to because their voices have a bitter taste, for example? Synesthesia often involves strong cross-sensory impressions.