Spatial sequences of concepts (other than time units, numbers or letters)

A type of spatial sequence synesthesia

This type of synesthesia involves consistently visualising concepts other than time units, letters or numbers in physical space.

This type has been reported but not formally studied and it appears to be less common than spatial sequences of time units, letters and numbers. I have seen cases of the following concepts reported and I hope to add more to the list as I discover them:

School subjects

Scientific fields

Colours

Zodiac signs

Illnesses

Literary works of a specific author

Books of the Bible

Prayers

Songs

Parts of song structure (chorus, bridge, verse)

TV shows

Episodes/seasons of TV series

Doctors in the "Doctor Who" TV series

TV channels

Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Netflix

Apps

People (friends, family, etc.)

Musical notes played on an instrument, when thinking about them

Solfege syllables

Image: BrockleyPark, in this post on the Synesthesia SubReddit. 2020.

These visual mental maps are created in an involuntary process that seems to form part of how the sequence in question is learnt. They can be generated at any time in the synesthete’s life, as they are concepts learnt at different ages, including adulthood, and not only in early childhood as is the case for numbers, the alphabet and time units. The visual layouts are stable, although some of them less so than the arrangements of time units/numbers/letters, as new additions are often tacked on when more elements in the sequence are learnt or the whole map can sometimes regroup itself slightly so that the series will fit better.

This type of spatial sequence synesthesia usually coexists with one or more of the other three types, and it is common for the same person to have several mental maps at the same time. In this case, when they concentrate on one of their mapped sequences it occupies a predominant status in their field of vision while the others fade into the background or disappear, or, alternatively, the synesthete’s visual perspective shifts as though they were travelling around the spatial maps, leaving some of them behind them and out of view.

Here are some descriptions written by people with this type of synesthesia:

Image: Finn F.

“Whenever I’m thinking about Shakespeare plays, this visual will automatically appear in my head, and I can manipulate it and “travel” around it at will.

It’s also not fixed—as I become more familiar with different plays, it changes shape somewhat. The better I know a play, the more fixed its position becomes. For example, in the two “clumps” of plays I don’t know that well—those plays were difficult to place because they don’t quite have fixed positions for me.”

(Source: Finn F, in his blog Synaptic Synnie. 2017.)

 

“When I am on Facebook, I picture it existing to the right of my mind. Netflix is to my left and YouTube is in the centre of my mind. When I jump from one to another, my perspective shifts. Instagram is kind of above my head, Pinterest is up and to the right. (…) I would usually have to use an app/site several times before my brain naturally decides where it’s located in space. I suppose I can place apps that I rarely use, but those would have to be significant in some way.”

(Source: comments on a post in the Facebook group “Synesthesia”. 2020.)

"I see grades k-12 mentally in my mind going from bottom left to upper right. I think this has to do with the fact that I generally see time from left to right and since grade level increases as you move along, the height literally gets higher as grade level increases. In my mind. So if I am thinking of the whole k-12, starting at kindergarten, I would compare it to a sidewalk that goes diagonally to the right with the square two places to the left of where I’m standing being Kindergarten. Diagonally right, to 8th grade, then at 9th grade, it goes to the direct right and is straight with a slight angle upwards to the left until you get to 12th grade. The lower the grade, the closer it looks, while the higher the grade, the farther way it looks. The angle changes a bit depending on what I am ‘zooming’ in on. If I zoom on something, it gets bigger.

I generally see them in groups, and I think this has to do with how it was arranged when I went to school. K-2 was in one building, 3-5 was in half of another building, but the other half was 6-8. 9-12 was in another building. When I think of 6th grade, I always see the rest of middle school and 5th grade in color and in their spatial location. If I think about 9th grade, I see the level and gap difference it has with 8th grade and the rest of high school to its right and up a bit.

There’s a gap in between 2nd grade and 3rd grade, I think because literal change of buildings and elementary school is a level higher than primary school. There’s a smaller gap and level difference between 5th grade. I think this is because there is no school building change. Then there’s the largest gap between 8th grade and 9th grade. Possibly due to the literal building change and that high school just seems Iike another world from middle school. Growing up to be more adult. And that differs from middle school."

(Source: This post on the Synesthesia SubReddit. 2021.)

An interesting case where the spatially-located concepts have a strong textural and tactile component 

”Basically songs, concepts, places, anything in life, have spatial locations ( can be around me or in me ) which I can also physically feel. They can be open curves to the side of me that are smooth and glowing and cold like marble, they can be a sensation at the back of my throat that’s rough as sand paper and hollow as oak, it can be a liquid that lines my bones or a feather filled pillow against my ribs.”

(Source: This post on the Synesthesia SubReddit. 2022.)

Go to the page on spatial sequence synesthesia in general

More cases / readers' comments: read all the comments on this article here

(There is a small selection of comments below, or you can follow the above link for access to all the reader comments describing their own experiences)

This page last updated: 20 April 2026