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Do I Have Synesthesia?

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What do numbers smell like? What does music look like? If these questions make sense to you, it’s possible you’ve got synesthesia—a neurological experience where one sense (like vision) leads to a second, unrelated sense (like hearing). In other words, when one sense is activated, another totally unrelated sense is activated too.

Answer these 12 questions to find out if you could be a synesthete! Just know this isn’t a formal diagnostic test—it’s only a quiz to see if you’ve got any of the characteristics of synesthesia.

A synesthetic girl is listening to music through her headphones, while ribbons of color streams out from the headphones.

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Questions Overview

1. Take a second to think: in your brain, does the number 7 have a personality (or a color)?
  1. Yes, I immediately think of a clear, specific personality for the number 7.
  2. I get certain vibes from different numbers or letters, but nothing too specific.
  3. No, not at all—what are you talking about?
  4. I’m not sure.
2. Does "Monday" have a specific personality or color in your head?
  1. Yes, it has a very distinct personality or color. (Examples: it’s friendly, or it’s red.)
  2. Maybe? I have some feelings I associate with Monday, but I’m not sure it has its own personality or color.
  3. No, definitely not. Mondays are just Mondays.
  4. I’m not sure.
3. Does the month of February make you think of a specific color (or, does it have human qualities in your head)?
  1. Yes! (Examples: February is shy and whimsical, for instance—or maybe it’s yellow.)
  2. I guess? It’s usually snowy, so I think of white. And Valentine’s Day is in February, so I think of it as a romantic month.
  3. No, not at all. It’s just a time of year.
  4. I don’t really know.
4. Does the letter "A" have a specific personality or color?
  1. Oh for sure! (Examples: A is very proper and standoffish, for instance, or perhaps it’s turquoise.)
  2. Possibly. I have some vague feelings about the letter “A,” I guess?
  3. No way. It’s just a letter!
  4. I don’t know.
5. Now, add the letter "C." Can you imagine personality differences between "A" and "C," or how the letters would interact?
  1. Oh yes. (Example: all “C” wants to do is party and have fun, but “A” is very studious and goes to bed early.)
  2. Maybe. I have some feelings about “A,” but not very strong feelings about “C.”
  3. Absolutely not. They’re just letters, people!
  4. I’m not sure.
6. Do certain sounds make you feel things on a physical level? (E.g., the sound of someone cracking their gum makes you feel itchy.)
  1. Yes, certain sounds produce specific physical sensations! (Example: Taylor Swift’s voice makes me feel tingly.)
  2. Sometimes, but it doesn’t always happen or it’s not very intense.
  3. No, I’ve never experienced this.
  4. I don’t know.
7. Do the words you’re reading look colorful to you?
  1. Yes, they’re definitely colored in.
  2. Now that you mention it, some are colorful.
  3. No, they’re just black.
  4. I’m not sure.
8. You just saw a stranger trip and hurt her knee. Does it seem like you can physically feel her pain?
  1. Yes—my own knee hurts as if I fell down myself!
  2. Sort of—I feel for her on an emotional level, but nothing more.
  3. I hope she’s OK, but personally, I feel fine.
  4. I don’t know.
9. Do you see colors or abstract shapes during routine activities, like listening to music or eating lunch?
  1. Almost always! It can even get distracting on occasion.
  2. Sometimes—it depends on what activity I’m doing.
  3. No, no shapes and colors for me.
  4. I’m not sure.
10. Does hearing certain words make you taste certain foods? (For instance, the word “summer” makes you taste chocolate.)
  1. Yes! I associate specific foods with specific words.
  2. Sometimes, especially if I’m hungry.
  3. No, that’s very strange. Words are words.
  4. I don’t know.
11. When you think about your future schedule, can you “see” the passage of time?
  1. Yeah! In my head, I see time as, like, a shape or a landscape laid out around me.
  2. I don’t “see” time, but I imagine a calendar in my head.
  3. No…I’m not even totally sure what you’re talking about.
  4. I don’t know.
12. Do you ever confuse numbers with colors?
  1. Yes (and boy does it make math hard!).
  2. No, I don’t think so. Maybe?
  3. No, never. Numbers are numbers.
  4. I’m not sure.
13. Which of the following sentences rings the most true to you?
  1. I almost always experience multiple senses at once—for instance, when I listen to music, I often see colors.
  2. I sometimes have unusual sensory experiences.
  3. I don’t really ever have any unusual sensory experiences.
  4. I’m not sure.
14. Does anyone in your family experience multiple senses at once?
  1. Yes, a lot of my family members get their sensory wires crossed.
  2. Maybe one or two, but not many.
  3. No, nobody in my family ever has unusual sensory experiences.
  4. I’m not sure.

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In fact, people with synesthesia tend to excel in creative fields, especially visual art and music. (Beyonc\u00e9 and Vincent Van Gogh are both rumored to have chromesthesia<\/b>, meaning they see color when they hear music, so if you\u2019re a synesthete, you\u2019re in excellent company!) Synesthesia is also genetic, so if any of your relatives have unusual sensory experiences, you\u2019re all the more likely to have them yourself!

You might have day-color synesthesia<\/b> if you associate days of the week with specific colors, or time-space synesthesia<\/b> if you visualize time or numbers as objects or part of your environment. Maybe you have ordinal linguistic personification<\/b> (associating specific characteristics to letters or numbers), or you\u2019re super empathic and have mirror-touch synesthesia<\/b>, meaning you physically feel what someone else is feeling. Or maybe you have a completely different type of synesthesia! You can talk to your doctor for a more thorough examination.","edit_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Super-Empath"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Be-Creative"}],"link_data":[{"title":"13 Psychology-Supported Signs That You\u2019re a Super Empath","id":13634630,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Super-Empath","image":"\/images\/thumb\/d\/da\/Super-Empath-Step-21.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Super-Empath-Step-21.jpg","alt":"13 Psychology-Supported Signs That You\u2019re a Super Empath"},{"title":"How to Be Creative","id":24473,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Be-Creative","image":"\/images\/thumb\/c\/c9\/Be-Creative-Step-17-Version-6.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Be-Creative-Step-17-Version-6.jpg","alt":"How to Be Creative"}],"minimum":0},{"text":"You may have synesthesia!","meaning":"Based on your answers, it\u2019s possible you have synesthesia, but it might be a bit more subtle! Maybe you only get your sensory wires crossed now and again, but not all the time. Like, maybe you hear bells ringing when you eat mint chocolate chip ice cream, or maybe every letter of the alphabet has a unique, complex personality. It might not always be super noticeable when it happens\u2014maybe you imagine faint colors when you hear music, but they\u2019re not very distinct, and you don\u2019t see them projecting in front of you. In short, it sounds like you\u2019ve got the best of both worlds: you have imaginative, multisensory experiences, but unlike some synesthetes, they aren\u2019t too distracting!

Synesthesia tends to occur in creative people, so if you experience overlapping senses now and again, even faintly, you\u2019re probably a pretty artistic person\u2014maybe a painter or a singer. Billie Eilish, Frank Ocean, Vincent Van Gogh, Olivia Rodrigo, David Hockney, and Duke Ellington are all believed to have synesthesia, so you\u2019re in good company!

Most people with synesthesia have it pretty mildly, but if you want to develop your synesthesia to make it super vivid, you may be able to do so with practice. Make an effort to associate one sensory item with another\u2014say, colors with numbers\u2014and over time, you\u2019ll establish new neural pathways in your brain, connecting one sense to another. Pretty cool, huh?","edit_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Train-Your-Brain"}],"link_data":[{"title":"How to Tell if You Have Synesthesia","id":245556,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia","image":"\/images\/thumb\/c\/c1\/Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia-Step-8-Version-3.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia-Step-8-Version-3.jpg","alt":"How to Tell if You Have Synesthesia"},{"title":"How to Train Your Brain","id":412507,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Train-Your-Brain","image":"\/images\/thumb\/5\/5c\/Do-Brain-Training-Step-13.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Do-Brain-Training-Step-13.jpg","alt":"How to Train Your Brain"}],"minimum":0},{"text":"You likely don't have synesthesia.","meaning":"You could have synesthesia, but it seems unlikely based on your answers. You tend to sense things in a pretty straightforward way, and that\u2019s awesome!

But hey, fun fact: if you\u2019d like to experience synesthesia yourself, researchers have discovered that it\u2019s possible to develop synesthesia all on your own with practice. So if you want to know what it\u2019s like to hear the flavor of shrimp or to sense someone\u2019s color aura, practice associating one sensory category (say, taste) with another (like sound). Over time, you\u2019ll build new neural pathways in your brain, similar to what people who were born with synesthesia have.

Keep in mind that it\u2019s also possible you have synesthesia and just take it for granted that you experience and sense things in a totally common, expected way! To find out for sure, try chatting with friends about how they experience different senses\u2014you may discover you\u2019ve already got synesthesia after all.","edit_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Train-Your-Brain"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/See-Auras"}],"link_data":[{"title":"How to Train Your Brain","id":412507,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Train-Your-Brain","image":"\/images\/thumb\/5\/5c\/Do-Brain-Training-Step-13.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Do-Brain-Training-Step-13.jpg","alt":"How to Train Your Brain"},{"title":"How to See and Interpret Someone Else\u2019s Aura and Your Own","id":595775,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/See-Auras","image":"\/images\/thumb\/a\/a0\/See-Auras-Step-15.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-See-Auras-Step-15.jpg","alt":"How to See and Interpret Someone Else\u2019s Aura and Your Own"}],"minimum":0},{"text":"It's unclear if you have synesthesia.","meaning":"Based on your responses, we\u2019re not sure if you\u2019ve got synesthesia\u2014and it sounds like you\u2019re not, either! Many times, people with synesthesia don\u2019t even realize the way they sense things is atypical. It\u2019s possible you don\u2019t have synesthesia, or that you do<\/i> have it and just don\u2019t know it yet. If you\u2019d like a more concrete answer, you\u2019ll have to try taking the test again and switching up your answers a bit.

Or, if you want to investigate on your own, try paying attention to the way different senses work in different situations: do any of your senses or perception abilities overlap or function unexpectedly? (For instance, when you listen to Lana Del Rey, do you suddenly get a sweet strawberry taste in your mouth? Or when you plan your vacation, do you just think of a calendar, or do you visualize the months of the year as a ring surrounding you?) Maybe even consider sharing your experiences with friends to see if they can relate\u2014or if what you\u2019re experiencing is a little unusual after all!","edit_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Train-Your-Brain"}],"link_data":[{"title":"How to Tell if You Have Synesthesia","id":245556,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia","image":"\/images\/thumb\/c\/c1\/Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia-Step-8-Version-3.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Tell-if-You-Have-Synesthesia-Step-8-Version-3.jpg","alt":"How to Tell if You Have Synesthesia"},{"title":"How to Train Your Brain","id":412507,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Train-Your-Brain","image":"\/images\/thumb\/5\/5c\/Do-Brain-Training-Step-13.jpg\/-crop-200-200-200px-Do-Brain-Training-Step-13.jpg","alt":"How to Train Your Brain"}],"minimum":0}]" class="quiz_results_data"/>\"Type<\/picture>","alt":"Type A B C D Personality Test"},{"title":"What Is My Personal Color Quiz","id":13920368,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Personal-Color-Test","image":"\"Personal<\/picture>","alt":"What Is My Personal Color Quiz"},{"title":"What Is My Color Aura Quiz","id":13348135,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/What-Is-My-Color-Aura-Quiz","image":"\"What<\/picture>","alt":"What Is My Color Aura Quiz"}],"number":1},{"text":"I want to know more about how I think.","result":"Awesome! Check out these quizzes to explore how your brain works:","next_quizzes":[{"title":"Am I Neurodivergent Quiz","id":14117296,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Neurodivergent-Test","image":"\"Neurodivergent<\/picture>","alt":"Am I Neurodivergent Quiz"},{"title":"Right Brain vs Left Brain Test","id":13844549,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Right-Brain-vs-Left-Brain-Test","image":"\"Right<\/picture>","alt":"Right Brain vs Left Brain Test"},{"title":"What Is My Learning Style Quiz","id":14153905,"url":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/Learning-Style-Quiz","image":"\"Learning<\/picture>","alt":"What Is My Learning Style Quiz"}],"number":2}]}" class="quiz_questionnaire_data"/>

More About Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which you experience multiple senses or perception abilities at the same time. It tends to run in families and people with autism, and it often occurs in visual artists or musicians. It’s thought to be somewhat rare, occurring in around 4% of people worldwide, but experts suspect more people have and just don’t realize it, since it can come in so many different forms.

Researchers estimate there may be more than 150 different types of synesthesia, including day-color synesthesia (associating days of the week with certain colors), chromesthesia (seeing colors for sounds), grapheme-color synesthesia (seeing colors when you look at letters or numbers), lexical-gustatory synesthesia (tasting words or sounds), ordinal linguistic personification (assigning personalities to letters or numbers), time-space synesthesia (visualizing time as an object or environment), auditory-tactile synesthesia (being able to “feel” sounds as physical sensations), and mirror-touch synesthesia (seeing something happen to someone else and physically feeling it).

Synesthesia is almost always totally harmless—in fact, people with synesthesia tend to have better memory recall and score higher on intelligence tests. However, it can be distracting at severe levels. Our test can’t offer you a formal diagnosis, but if you believe you have synesthesia or want to learn more about it, talk to your doctor for more info.

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