Often
abbreviated to SSS
Other,
less-used, names for it are Sequence-spatial, Sequence-space and Visuo-spatial synesthesia
1. Calendar synesthesia (time-space synesthesia)
2. Number form synesthesia
3. Letter form (or alphabet form) synesthesia
4. Spatial visualisation of other sequences (school subjects, books
of the Bible and signs of the zodiac are a few examples).
"Spatial sequencers" perceive the months, dates, numbers, letters or other elements in a
sequence in the physical space around them or in front of them. Apart
from spatial position, these elements may also have their own colour, texture
and shape. Projectors (a minority) see their sequences
literally outside their own body space, while associators see them
in the mind’s eye but not physically. Although the exact
spatial arrangement is different for each person, it is consistent and
tends to remain the same throughout their lifetime. The visual configuration
of the sequences can be relatively simple, highly complex or anything in between:
the elements might be on a horizontal, vertical or diagonal plane, in a ring or
spiralling out of sight, progressing from left to right or vice versa and
sometimes with many sudden or gradual changes of direction. Typically,
the subject’s viewpoint can vary and the perspective can shift when necessary, so
the synesthete feels that they are standing in front of the current month of
the year, for example, with the rest of the months positioned accordingly and
some of them even behind them and out of sight.
MAIN TYPES
OF SPATIAL SEQUENCE SYNESTHESIA:
(the title links
go to a description of each type, with examples)
More about spatial sequencing in synesthetes and non-synesthetes
Many non-synesthetes
experience something very similar to this, so should we consider that SSS isn’t
actually synesthesia? Or perhaps that there are many more synesthetes in the
population than we had previously thought?
It has been observed that spatial sequencing can be present in people who would not normally be considered synesthetes. It may even occur in much higher percentages of the general population than the 4% accepted today as being the total percentage of synesthetes: different studies have estimated that around 15%-29% of the general population might experience it to some degree. Research is still needed to accurately determine whether these types occur more strongly or differently in people we would normally consider synesthetes than in other individuals. Perhaps the occurrence of a similar phenomenon to SSS in non-synesthetes is merely a result of the SNARC effect (this stands for “spatial numerical association of response codes” and means that we all have a tendency to adapt our spatial reasoning to commonly accepted cultural conventions such as writing from left to right in the Western cultures and from right to left in some other alphabets, ordering the numbers from left to right or arranging the months from right to left or perhaps from top to bottom).
If you are interested in finding out more about this phenomenon, you could read this scientific study: The objectification of overlearned sequences: A new view of spatial sequence synesthesia (D. Eagleman, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA, 2009).
In this study, a large-scale characterisation of spatial sequence synesthesia was performed, comparing synesthetes and non-synesthetes. Here is an excerpt from some of its findings and information:
“There has been
an ongoing discussion about whether spatial sequences should qualify as a form
of synesthesia. At first glance, the objectification of sequences does not seem
to fit the definition of synesthesia as a sensory coupling; however, the fact
that the inducers are the same as the more wellstudied color synesthesia seems
to implicate it as a related phenomenon. In this case, the overlearned
sequences trigger an experience of objecthood, in the same way that experiences
of shape, texture, color, and illumination can also be triggered by sequences
(Eagleman and Goodale, 2009). Therefore it seems appropriate to classify the
automatic objectification of sequences as a form of synesthesia. (...)
One possibility is that the difference results from
individual differences in the vividness of the visual imagery, which is known
to vary widely in the population. Another, non-exclusive possibility for why a
subset of the population has vividly conscious access to sequential spatial
mappings is an inherited genetic component, as is thought to occur in colored
sequence synesthesia.
More cases / readers' comments: read all the comments on
this article here
(See the comments received in
2026 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: 8 April 2024
For me, time is a deep ocean Blue. My memories are a staircase, if I go down the bottom floors are a deep indigo, if I go up they are red. I see most concepts and thoughts on a 3 dimensional holographic plane. My thought train starts with an idea or concept -> motion -> colour -> temperature/texture/tone/hue(saturation level)/emotion -> then into internal weather which I translate via poetic metaphor. Have been doing this for almost five years now. Time is a substantial variable in my frame of mind, it’s on a sliding track from left to right. (Can be contacted raindcole@protonmail.com if need be)
ReplyDeleteI see time and numbers and the alphabet as a sideways ladder or line with colours as well
ReplyDeleteIs that just me?
ReplyDeleteThis is SO COOL! I was just asking my friends about how they visualize the days of the week, and nobody could understand what I was explaining, then I stumbled upon this while researching something else. I don’t see color, but the arrangement of months, dates, numbers and weekdays are all in different spatial sequences.
ReplyDeleteI only recently discovered that I had this when my son taught me what synesthesia was! He sees numbers and days in colours. When discussing this with my husbands family, somehow the dates and months etc came up and I explained how I saw them in a 3d pattern around me (numbers almost in a spiral staircase formation, months and days of week in a circle formation around me and every day/month has its particular spot and shade). Turns out, not everyone thinks like this! I had assumed it was my brain as a kid helping me memorize these things, and that everyone had their own similar patterns. Seems as though my son inherited his synesthesia from me, although no idea who I inherited mine from.
ReplyDelete