So what exactly do synesthetes
see? Typically, the visual concurrents of synesthesia are colours and/or
abstract or geometric shapes, with or without texture. They are not figurative (pictorial) images. For example, the letter A or a particular piece of music might be red,
the taste of chocolate might be a rectangle or the sound of an accordion might
be a jagged purple line, but synesthesia does not normally produce figurative
images like people, buildings, everyday objects or landscapes with natural
elements like flowers or trees. However, some synesthetes – albeit a minority –
have this kind of experience in response to certain stimuli, and they are
actually even quite frequent in the case of some types of synesthesia (which
perhaps should not be considered synesthesia but rather some other similar
phenomenon, although at present they are usually accepted as such). Here we talk about the types of synesthesia or parallel phenomena that can
produce not only colours and abstract shapes but also complete images, with
descriptions written by people who have experienced them.
(click on each link to go to them)
Sexual (and romantic) synesthesia / Touch-to-image
They are highly consistent: the same image tends to be related to the same word throughout the entire lifetime of the person who perceives it.
The images often have movement and are associated with a specific action, meaning they may be related to lexical-motor synesthesia.
They often seem to be linked to childhood memories, perhaps dating back to the time when the word in question was learnt.
In other cases they appear to relate to the sound of the word: simple elements that would make that kind of sound are perceived. They can even be connected with the way a person would position their mouth to pronounce the word. In other cases the association could stem from the written graphemes themselves, so words containing the letter “k” might trigger perceptions of sharp objects, for example.)
One of the people reporting this kind of perception in the descriptions below lost her hearing as a child and learnt sign language, and some of the images she perceives are similar to the sign denoting the word in question.
These figurative visual associations, often associated with actions or movements, appear to be more frequently triggered by people’s names or proper nouns (see below).
There are cases of projector synesthetes who actually see the images physically in front of them (although this is extremely rare), as compared to associator synesthetes who only perceive them in the mind’s eye, but the images are always involuntary and conscious and more than a mere association requiring an effort to be pictured.
“Black Friday” looks like a
headless black sheep bouncing around (animated, not gory). “Fresh” is a white
sheet being dramatically pulled off an invisible object. “Multiple” looks like
a bunch of white grapes popping. (…)
Some words look reminiscent of their ASL signs. The word “help” is a white platform raising up. The ASL sign for it is a palm, with the other hand in a thumbs up raising up together.”
“Fresh” has movement and looks
like a scrawny surfer dude with shaggy sandy brown hair and a big nose, sliding
across at eye level from left to right with one arm up and out in front of him
(and his arm is bendy-looking like it’s made of rubber rather than having a
proper elbow and hand).
“Multiple” is a blurry red
plastic section of honeycomb down by my chin.
“Periwinkle” looks like one of those cheap shiny metallic and colorful pinwheels.
Mistake is a fork with a carrot slice on it, and purpose is a purple diamond.
(Source: a conversation in the Facebook group Synesthesia, 27/11/2018).
If you're interested, you can read more about images as a less common concurrent in grapheme-induced synesthesia on this page:
Grapheme-shape/texture/colour/image synesthesia
THE IMAGES OF NIKOLA TESLA: SYNESTHESIA? OR NEXT LEVEL HYPERPHANTASIA?
Scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), the “genius of electricity”, had incredible mental capabilities, clearly those of a savant. They included an eidetic (photographic) memory and extraordinary visualisation skills: he never needed to take notes or draw plans for his inventions. It is highly probable that he was a synesthete. However, the following description of what he would visualise as a child on hearing spoken words seems to be more in consonance with a trait called "prophantasia”, where mental images are actually projected physically as if seen in real life. Rather than a synesthetic concurrent it is the top end of the scale of visual hyperphantasia (see below for a definition of hyperphantasia), as what he was visualising corresponded to the actual object being described and was therefore not idiosyncratic, which is an important feature of synesthesia.
“During my boyhood I had
suffered from a peculiar affliction due to the appearance of images, which were
often accompanied by strong flashes of light. When a word was spoken, the image
of the object would present itself so vividly to my vision, that I could not
tell whether what I saw was real or not… Even though I reached out and passed
my hand through it, the image would remain fixed in space.”
(Source: the online magazine Futurism.)
Associating figurative images with words appears to be more common in the case of proper nouns. The images often incorporate movement and involve a specific action, bringing to mind the case described by George Devereux in 1966 (which he called “audio-motor synesthesia” although a more accurate term would perhaps be “lexical-motor”). It is clearly conceptual in nature and is connected with childhood memories associated with people’s names.
Here are some descriptions written by people with strong image/action associations evoked by proper nouns:
“My husband’s name is Travis, and when I hear his name I get simultaneous images of a seatbelt being buckled up and a slice of American cheese being unwrapped.”
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2014.)
Ariane / Ariana - someone dropping a letter to the mail
Celine - someone playing a violin
Whitney - someone playing golf
Paul - someone playing billiards”
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2020.)
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve made associations with names to a mental picture. Almost every name has an item or a shape that I think of when I hear the name. (…)
Some
examples: - the name Ryan is crinkle-cut fries - the name Paul is a slightly
curved, dry bar of pinky-reddish soap, but Paula is a set of shoulders - Joseph
and Josephine are a top hat - (...) - Dylan is a toilet seat (sorry to all Dylans) - Shelby is a cartoon
turtle.
Some names
have super strong, instant mental images but some others don’t really give me
much. And it’s not always a regular item, for example “Devon” is a white semi
circle and “Aaron” is a square with a small circle in the top left corner. And
spelling affects the image sometimes as well, because “Erin” is a small stud
earring.”
(Source:
This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2021.)
In this case it is important
to distinguish between what is and what isn’t synesthesia, as both synesthetes
and non-synesthetes can associate and create mental pictures with songs and
pieces of music and with sounds.
The
manifestations normally considered to be synesthetic concurrents are colours
and/or abstract shapes, basically consistent and corresponding to a specific categorical or sequential aspect of the music (or sounds), usually one of the following: tones/pitch – chords – keys
– timbres of the different instruments – songs, artists or genres.
Go to the page on the different types of musical synesthesia
What isn’t synesthesia: “music videos”
Some people, both synesthetes
and non-synesthetes, report that certain songs or pieces of music trigger a
kind of “music video” in their mind, with a specific location, atmosphere,
objects, characters and sometimes a story or narrative. They are consistent:
the same song always brings to mind the same sequence, and the “video” often
gains in detail as the song is heard more often. They frequently bear a
relationship to the words of the song or the atmosphere it suggests (so jazz music
might induce a scene in New Orleans in black and white or rap music might suggest
graffiti, for example.)
These manifestations can be automatic, vivid and consistent but they are not
synesthesia, as by definition the synesthetic visual concurrent lacks any kind
of narrative and it cannot involve figurative scenes of several minutes’
duration. They appear to be more in keeping with an interesting phenomenon
called “visual hyperphantasia”. People with hyperphantasia have an excellent
capacity for mental visualisation, with an abundance of visual imagery that
they can evoke in all its colour, detail and dimensions with no effort
whatsoever.
What could perhaps be part of synesthesia, however, is the combination of visual hyperphantasia and synesthetic photisms.
If a person with synesthesia also has hyperphantasia and the tendency to involuntarily create detailed images in their imagination, it is also possible that both phenomena can occur together: the typical colours and/or abstract shapes of auditory-visual synesthesia and the more complete images of hyperphantasia. It is fairly rare for them to happen at the same time, as it is necessary to focus on either one experience or the other, but some synesthetes do experience it in this way. If such people also happen to have auditory-tactile synesthesia (and/or tactile hyperphantasia), the corresponding physical sensations that are being felt can increase the sensation of reality of the visual images evoked and in some cases, in a state of profound relaxation and concentration, can open the door to lucid dreaming (“WILD”, wake-induced lucid dreams). In any case, the pictorial images themselves wouldn't be considered synesthesia, just a phenomenon that might enhance the synesthetic response in people who have this kind of experience or succeed in evoking it.
Image visualisation in a music-induced creative trance
An interesting phenomenon exists that may bear a relationship to synesthesia with musical sequences as an inducer. It consists of the visualisation of figurative images, random but usually very consistent, by people in a state of heightened concentration while playing a musical instrument, and occurs while the person is creating, memorising or learning a piece of music. It would seem to be a rare phenomenon, as yet unknown, although it may achieve more recognition in future. The images perceived are usually of places, people or objects, they sometimes include autobiographical childhood memories, and the same images can repeat, being associated with the same musical sequences. It is connected with the special state of profound concentration and/or relaxation induced by the creative process of playing a musical instrument and memorising new pieces.
“I'm curious to know if others and indeed if all pianists see random images or think of certain things/people when they play a piece. I get it with every piece I play, but it's nothing that's connected to the style of the piece..it's much more abstract than that. (...) The last few pieces I've learned (and it's always at the same part of the piece) I have had flashes into my head of random images such as - a crocodile, my sister, a girl I at my work who I have never spoken to, my friend's ex boyfriend (again..don't even know him that well), a boat on the water, a woman waiting for her husband to come back from war..and the word banana. (...) The only way I can describe it is as if you were recalling your dream from the night before and images flash into your head.”
(Source: this forum on the classical piano website Piano Street. 2017.)
Go to the page on images seen in creative/musical trance
Go to the page on auditory-visual synesthesia
Although rare, for some synesthetes different types of pain can trigger an automatic and consistent synesthetic concurrent in the form of a figurative image.
"For example when my back hurts
I see a close up of ball of twine and it's kind of dark. When my hands hurt I
see a beach on a cloudy day with mountains at the back of the beach, the sand
is more rocky and there are some black rocks like obsidian down by the water in
front of the "camera".
I say image because it is like looking at a photograph. It's more than seeing an abstract mash of colors and patterns.”
(Source: This comment on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2014.)
Go to the page on pain-colour and pain-shape synesthesia
It is also unusual for a synesthete to visualise emotions as figurative images (the typical concurrents are colours and/or shapes), but cases have been described in which this type of association is involuntarily, consciously and consistently evoked on feeling or perceiving different emotions:
“For as long as I remember,
when I feel certain emotions strongly or think back on a memory where I felt
such an emotion strongly, I picture a character at the same time.
For example, excitement is a dark-skinned young woman, frizzy hair, dyed a pastel rainbow at the bottom, wearing a purple tank top and black denim shorts, with a unicorn horn headband. Anger is a young pale-skinned man with fawn brown hair, wearing a red flannel shirt. His body cuts off at the torso and has no arms, and he has floating purple hands.”
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2020.)
Go to the page on emotion-colour/shape/image synesthesia
Person-colour synesthesia, where the synesthete associates each person they know with one or more colours, can sometimes be more complex than a mere chromatic association. The colours can have textures, shapes and patterns and also spatial location, and occasionally the association extends into figurative territory, taking the form of landscapes, animals or objects, which may even be seen physically superimposed on the person being observed in the case of some projector synesthetes. It is not clear whether this is really a form of synesthesia or whether these are simply strong, lasting associations linked to some aspect of the person’s personality or appearance or to their synesthetic colours.
“When I think about my grandmother, I get an image of a little robin hopping around. My boyfriend is the colour blue, but also white clouds of a light blue sky, and the ocean splashing against cliffs (gently). My mother is violet, some lavender, and a swan.”
(Source: This (now deleted) post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2017.)
Go to the page on person-colour synesthesia
SEXUAL (AND ROMANTIC) SYNESTHESIA; TOUCH-TO-IMAGE SYNESTHESIA
Another case is sexual synesthesia, which could also be called romantic synesthesia as its photisms are is not only triggered by sex and orgasm but also by moments of intimacy, hugs, kisses and tactile experiences involving the person with whom the synesthete has a romantic – and usually stable –relationship. It is yet to be determined whether it is actually a type of synesthesia: there has been little research as yet and from what has been documented it can be observed that the concurrents are somewhat different from those of other types of synesthesia and are often figurative, random and inconsistent.
“When I hug him or kiss him, I see strange, vivid images in my mind. Sometimes they are beautiful - e.g. a pulsating mandala of balls of light, or an intricate, sprawling lichen on a mossy rock in a misty forest, or an iridescent frog. Other times they are bizarre and intense - e.g. a multi-limbed, dancing, boldly coloured cave painting of a woman. Yet other times they are mundane, ridiculous and often hilarious - a jar of mayonnaise, or a derpy dog running into a wall, or a cake decorated with raw green beans.”
(Source: This post on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2020.)
Go to the page on sexual (and romantic) synesthesia
More cases / readers' comments: read all the comments on this article here
(See the comments received since 2025 below, or follow the above link for access to all the reader comments
describing their own experiences: it makes interesting reading)
This page last updated: 29 April 2026
Hello, I want to ask about my experience from young age. I "felt" swirling lights with various colors on my inner-brain "screen", I don't know how to explain it properly, but it feels like there's a screen between the front of my brain and the back of my eyes. the images' shape is not strict, just swirling, swaying, rolling lights of colors on my "screen"; it appears usually when I listen to Ravel and Messiaen's classical music-their music makes the most clear colors and lights. Of course there's other music make those images in my brain, like Beethoven's 6th symphony-it appears into fluorescent green and light yellow. The color constantly appears for more than 20 years from the first time I listened to that particular music. The colors does not come on to my sight, but I felt them, saw them in my brain from the time I was young. Is it the proper experience of audio-visual synaesthesia? I haven't thought of the possibility that I could be the kind of synaesthesia person at all. I told about the colors just normally but my friends shocked about my experience, so I found about this sense and came to this site for the first time:))
ReplyDeleteHi, Kaldi! Yes, from what you describe I think you have synesthesia. I think it is because the colours you perceive seem to be consistent, i.e. you have the same or a very similar experience with the same music, they have been around since you started listening to those pieces, and you “feel” the colours or perceive them in your mind’s eye (that’s quite typical of synesthesia, rather than seeing them physically, even though they clearly have their own position on a kind of ”screen”, as you say). Many synesthetes do perceive shapes with the different sounds or timbres but some just have colour sensations, like you.
DeleteHi
ReplyDeleteIm wondering if some of what im experiencing is synesthesia. I feel strong sensations in my body when i hear any form of music, and sometimes other sounds. It can feel like my skin is tingling (not goosebumps), my chest is heavy, my head feels heavy or any other sensation. Sometimes it feels like my chest could burst open - then i switch songs and the sensation switches. The sensation is stronger if im more focused on the music - or if im experiencing strong visual stimulation. I also experience a lot of the music video effect. It happens instantly when music plays. The imagery never changes. Often its not for the entire song, but during the parts with strong physical sensation. The core thing with that visual part is the coloring in the image/video. If i try to change the “color-filter” over the visual it feels so wrong, it makes me very uncomfortable. I have recognised that i usually only really enjoy music if the colors i see around me match the colors i associate with the song or the mood. For example: some songs for me is the close up image of a light blue, light pink sky with white clouds. What im trying to say is that i don’t really see colors alone when i listen to music , but i still have an instantaneous color association to the color-combo in an image + the physical sensation and the feeling of any other color association with the sound being completely wrong. The visual part is the particular tone of colors in the image/video, not really the visual image it self - if that makes sense?
Yes, that makes sense! And what you’re experiencing is synesthesia, plus some extra experiences, so I think you have the best of all worlds there :D
DeleteThe colours you associate with different songs/timbres/sounds and the fact that any other colour would be wrong for that music, that is typical song-to-colour synesthesia (or perhaps timbre-colour or some other type of chromesthesia, or more than one of those, there isn’t enough information to go by from what you say, but you could probably identify the type fairly easily.)
If you get the “music video” effect with songs, that wouldn’t be considered synesthesia (even if it’s very consistent), but being able to mix that effect with your synesthetic colours for music is something not everyone (or not all synesthetes) can do and it can really enhance the experience, so I would say to continue making the most of it.
Especially if it’s combined with tactile sensations produced by sound. From what you say they would probably fit in with auditory-tactile synesthesia, as they’re varied and specific to particular sounds, and more than just the typical frisson or other effects that most people get.
Your experience sounds similar to mine, although I kind of lost the ability to combine the 3 experiences so well. But the visual and tactile combination can make for a kind of sensurround thing if you deeply relax, I was often crossing over into lucid dreaming with it at one stage, they were very strong experiences that I’m glad I had the chance to live out. You could experiment and find sounds or music that give you the degree of relaxation that could enhance what you’re perceiving. Everyone’s different, so I would say to explore the possibilities music gives you and your synesthesia, and see where it takes you.