Hey there, ladies and gents! Welcome back! How’d that last synesthesia test go? This post will focus predominantly on synesthesia statistics, or the stats, percentages, and general facts that quantify the neurological condition. Let’s get goin’! First off, women and those who are predominantly left-handed make up the majority of the synethete population in the world. The female-to-male ratio is 3:1 (75%) in terms of the amount of synesthetes in the world. The condition itself is considered “rare” since only 1 in every 2000 people in the world have synesthesia. Another factor to consider is that considering that this condition is caused in the left-hemisphere of the brain, there is a drastic surplus of southpaws (left-handers) that have synesthetic experiences.

The Most Common Form

Statistically, the most common form of synesthesia is called color-graphemic synesthesia. With this particular condition, patients will notice that letters and numbers will be seen as different colors. There have been a total of over 60 different types of synesthesia in the world but there have only been a small amount of cases that have been thoroughly studied by medical professionals and scientists. With this particular condition, the intensity varies per patient and most of the time, patients aren’t aware that their perceptions are irregular.

Genetic Statistics Available?

There have been studies to see whether synesthesia is a genetic disease but there has been no proof of inheritance thus far (although synesthesia does run throughout families). See the video below from Dr. Jamie Ward and Go Cognitive to learn more about the genetics. People will also experience synesthetic symptoms if they have a stroke, are under the influence of psychedelic drugs (such as LSD) or during seizures. If synesthesia arises outside of a family unit it is labeled as adventitious synesthesia. This particular type of synesthesia is known to affect only sound, vision, touch, or hearing.

Those who experience synesthesia may notice that they have a superior memory. As per scientific studies and synesthesia statistics, synesthetes were tested with the Wechsler Memory Scale and they were placed within the superior range of the scale. Another benefit to the memory is that spatial locations of particular objects is remembered. Although memory increases, math and logic are two areas that suffer drastically with synesthetes due to the fact that the condition occurs within the left hemisphere of the brain.

Now That You Know . . .

For those of you who know a synesthete: Now that you’re familiar with some of the basic statistics of synesthesia, does it make you appreciate your friend/acquaintance/relative that much more? It’s pretty crazy to think that 1 out of every 2000 people walking the streets is a synesthete. For me, it brings to mind one question: How many of these people actually know that their perceptions are irregular – that they have synesthesia. Now THAT would be an interesting statistic! Once again, thanks for tuning in!

Hey there, folks! How’s it going? Today we have a special treat for all you bloggers, forum posters, and general Internet surfers who also have an interest in synesthesia. The infographic below (which we encourage you to share with the embed code provided), provides a brief synesthesia test for grapheme-color synesthesia – one of the most common types of the condition. While the test itself is pretty simple, we think that the graphic gives readers of various levels of understanding a general idea of what all grapheme-color synesthesia entails. As this is our first infographic, we’d love to hear some feedback from our viewers! Also, please do share! All that we ask for in return is a link (to www.synesthesiatest.org) so that we can continue to increase our online exposure! And hey, if you happen to find that your perception of graphemes is on par with what we describe in the graphic, let us know! While it’s certainly not an official test for synesthesia, it’s a good place to start! Enjoy!

Feel like sharing? Awesome! Simply use the embed code provided below to insert this graphic on your own blog or forum!

<a href=”http://www.synesthesiatest.org”><img src=”http://www.synesthesiatest.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/synesthesia-infographic.png” alt=”synesthesia-test-infographic” /></a>

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Synesthesia is a condition of the mind in which our brain’s processing of the senses is intertwined. While some who experience the condition may consider it a nuisance (at times), those on the outside (looking in) often regard the condition as nothing less than phenomenal. People who experience synesthesia are nominally labeled as synesthetes. Synesthetes experience the world around us in a different way. Have you ever tasted the richness of the color blue, or seen the brilliant orange streaks of a high C note? Do you perceive sensations with a sense that doesn’t seem to belong? Probably not. If you have had a similar experience, though, there’s a good chance that you’re the one synesthete in every 2000 people. Still curious? Good! There are a variety of synesthesia tests that can help you verify or nullify your personal relationship with the condition.

Visual Tests

A common test for grapheme-color synesthesia is having the subject in question look at a picture with several black letters or numbers. A person without synesthesia will look at this picture and see it as it is: a picture with black letter and numbers. He or she will not see anything atypical. However, a synesthete (who associates specific colors with specific letters and/or numbers) may look at the same picture and perceive something quite different. As he or she begins to scan through the letters and numbers, each has its own respective color – a bijection of sorts between grapheme and color. While this is a rather simple synesthesia test, it does its job, providing quick, most-often definitive results.

The above picture depicts an example of how a synesthete experiencing grapheme-color synesthesia might perceive the numbers (right) compared to normal perception (left). The test, in this case, is how fast the subject is able to find all of the number 2s in the picture. While a person with normal perception tends to have trouble hastily distinguishing between the 5s and the 2s, a grapheme-color synesthete may perceive 5s as one color and 2s as another, making the task a much easier one. You get the idea. Simple, yet effective.

Auditory Tests

Since there are numerous types of synesthesia, a visual test is not the only kind of synesthesia test you will find on the internet. For example, there also exists auditory synesthesia, which occurs when a sound activates an additional sense (to hearing) for a synesthete. To be able to test for auditory synesthesia, one will be asked to listen to a collection of sounds to see if he or she experiences a sensory perception that is not mundane (e.g. seeing colorful shapes or tasting a certain flavor).

Test-Retest

This is a type of test where a person is given a set of objects (e.g. numbers) and is asked to assign colors, tastes, personalities, or more. After a certain amount of time, they are given the same objects again and asked to do the same task. A synesthete will be able to assign the same characteristics very easily, as they’ve already made neural associations which are automatic and consistent.

Stroop Effect

Also known as the Stroop test, this pertains to a kind of psychology test that researchers use to demonstrate the subject’s reaction time for a task. It is widely used in clinical practice. Because Stroop tests are used to measure reaction time (and due to the fact that synesthesia is automatically evoked), researchers use them to see if the reactions within a person’s brain are consistent with those standard in a brain altered by synesthesia.