Synesthesia

Why do some jazz cats talk so mystic?

QFT.

This thread is like watching retarded children compare chromosomes.

Best response i've ever read...

The Synesthesia Battery

Log in, make the test, STFU, don't cheat, and notice all the kinds of synesthesia there is. Going to undergo this test and we'll see.

spanish?

Haha. Hilarious.

Grapheme Color Picker Test

Score: 0.35

In this battery, a score below 1.0 is ranked as synesthetic. Non-synethetes asked to use memory or free association typically score in the range of a 2.0. A perfect score of 0.0 would mean that there was no difference in the colors selected on each successive presentation of the same letter. For more information on the Synesthesia Battery and the details of how it is scored, please refer to David M. Eagleman, Arielle D. Kagan, Stephanie S. Nelson, Deepak Sagaram, Anand K. Sarma. A standardized test battery for the study of Synesthesia. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 2007 Jan 15;159(1):139-145.

Speed-Congruency Test

Accuracy 95.83 %

Mean Reaction Time 1.387 seconds +/- 0.533

An accuracy percentage of right answers in the range of 85-100 typically indicates synesthetic association between the graphemes and colors. Those below 85% typically rule out synesthesia.

Weekday Color Picker Test

Score: 0.27

In this battery, a score below 1.0 is ranked as synesthetic. Non-synethetes asked to use memory or free association typically score in the range of a 2.0. A perfect score of 0.0 would mean that there was no difference in the colors selected on each successive presentation of the same letter.

Month Color Picker Test

Score: 0.31

In this battery, a score below 1.0 is ranked as synesthetic. Non-synethetes asked to use memory or free association typically score in the range of a 2.0. A perfect score of 0.0 would mean that there was no difference in the colors selected on each successive presentation of the same letter.

Instrument (Timbre) Color Picker Test

Score: 0.22

In this battery, a score below 1.0 is ranked as synesthetic. Non-synethetes asked to use memory or free association typically score in the range of a 2.0. A perfect score of 0.0 would mean that there was no difference in the colors selected on each successive presentation of the same letter.

Sadly, they only have colour synesthesia tests. I trust the other ones are harder to test...

System Gamed:

Grapheme Color Picker Test Score: 0.51

Speed-Congruency Test Accuracy 93.75 % Mean Reaction Time 2.539 seconds +/- 0.715

Weekday Color Picker Test Score: 0.22

Month Color Picker Test Score: 0.45

Piano Scale Color Picker Test Score: 0.248

Chord Color Picker Test

This one was the hardest for me to game, since there was no visual component and I don't have perfect pitch. Someone with perfect pitch could.

Instrument Color Picker Test Score: 0.225

Now, this isn't to say that this sensation doesn't exist, however it does mean that someone can will themselves into this situation; I had to write down the stuff, but that's because i didn't want to memorize it, since I have other stuff to do today. But with a knowledge of how these tests are run, I'm pretty confident I could come up with real, unguided, false positives.

Plus, what kind of dummy expects the internet to be truthful enough to get real scientific answers? Silly academics, the internet is for porn.

Silly academics, the internet is for porn.

YES!

System Gamed:

Grapheme Color Picker Test Score: 0.51

Speed-Congruency Test Accuracy 93.75 % Mean Reaction Time 2.539 seconds +/- 0.715

Weekday Color Picker Test Score: 0.22

Month Color Picker Test Score: 0.45

Piano Scale Color Picker Test Score: 0.248

Chord Color Picker Test

This one was the hardest for me to game, since there was no visual component and I don't have perfect pitch. Someone with perfect pitch could.

Instrument Color Picker Test Score: 0.225

Now, this isn't to say that this sensation doesn't exist, however it does mean that someone can will themselves into this situation; I had to write down the stuff, but that's because i didn't want to memorize it, since I have other stuff to do today. But with a knowledge of how these tests are run, I'm pretty confident I could come up with real, unguided, false positives.

Plus, what kind of dummy expects the internet to be truthful enough to get real scientific answers? Silly academics, the internet is for porn.

Well of course, you are expected to be honest in these things... And the internet is indeed far from perfect.

I understand it that true synesthesia means that people actually see colors that go along with sounds.

No- there are two different kinds of color/music synesthesia. One is (as you said) when you actually SEE the colors as you listen to the music (these people are commonly named "projectors"). Most of us, however, internalize these colors..only visualizing them inside our head.

the so called associators ;)

I am actually doing research about synesthesia, looking with fMRI and structural MRI (and some DTI measurements) at the brains of 15 synesthetes. I am soon finished with it, if I find anything out, I'll let you know! :P

greetz

ps Pretty weird discussion was going on here, some people refusing to accept the experiences of synesthetes and some calling it an illness? Many people have it (all kinds of synesthesia taken together , roughly 4%), so it is very possible someone within your friends/family has it ;). Everyone who has synesthesia (at least the persons I met until now, and the stories I read about it) don't want to live without it.

Most importantly (for me :P): understanding synesthesia might help understanding how our senses work. I would not be surprised if research in synesthesia would be play a key role in understanding our senses.