When
someone with this type of synesthesia hears another person speak, they get the
feeling that their own mouth, throat and even stomach are moving as if they
were producing the same sounds.
Here are some descriptions written by people with this type of synesthesia:
“It's a
strange, extremely vivid sensation of physically speaking (tongue motions, lip
movements, air in my throat) when I'm not, and my mouth/tongue/throat aren't
actually moving.”
(Source: This comment on Reddit/Synesthesia. 2020.)
"…forgetting
to breathe because I can't remember if I've actually taken a breath or if it
was just someone else... or choking on someone else's snores or
coughs...!"
“I have a
sensation in back of my throat corresponding to the sounds I hear, except it applies
to all sounds, not just speech or singing. It feels almost like a sort of
opening or closing in my throat (which isn't actually happening), combined with
the "texture" (how smooth/rough a sound is). The sensation can also
have a feeling of motion that might extend out, up, or down into my head or
chest."
Go to the page on auditory-tactile synesthesia
I think I experience something like this, but it differs from the description in a key way: I experience what the sound of other people's voices feels like in my own throat and chest, but I don't feel like my anatomy is moving most of the time. Certain sounds cause a sensation that tricks me into thinking "Did I just do that too?" But that's rare. Mostly I'm just feeling the sound of the other person's voice. The resonance. The vocal fry. The shakiness or firmness.
ReplyDeleteIt happens on a wide spectrum of intensity, with some vocal sounds not even registering, and some vocal sounds being scarcely perceptible, and some vocal sounds matching or exceeding the sensation of making the sound myself. When I sing together with other people and we're harmonizing, I feel like the vibrations in my own throat have doubled or tripled because their voices are in there too. Same for when I'm at a concert and everyone (including me) screams with excitement.
And the inducer isn't just human voices. I feel sensations when I hear the voices of animals, especially some of the sounds ravens make. And totally artificial sounds that kind of resemble voices- I feel those too. Other forms of synesthesia: I have textures for sounds in general, mostly in my mind but sometimes they have a location in my mouth, cheeks, inner ears, and on or in my head. And sounds distort how things taste and feel in my mouth.
I experience something similar to this but only related to singing. When I am singing along with music I am listening to, I can feel what the singer's voice feels like in my throat and mouth. There's an element of being able to emulate their singing voice, but it's not mimicry, since I don't sound exactly like them. It's more like a physical feeling of their tone, their technique, their style, their phrasing, their way of pronouncing words. The most interesting part is that when singing along with different singers, I seem to adopt their range limitations. I won't be able to hit a note that I am actually capable of hitting when I am singing in another singer's voice who can't reach that note.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so much like me! Although, I don't need to be singing along to feel it in my mouth and throat, I can just be listening. Also, just imagining a song I know well can cause me to feel it in my mouth. I can't reproduce someone's range though, but I can feel the resonance of lower / higher notes. It's amazing to know that other people experience this too!
DeleteThis is me as well! For me it specifically comes with a very strong urge to sing myself, and I think that's actually a big part of how I started learning how to sing in the first place. When I eventually took formal lessons, my instructor really wanted me to work on doing less mimicry (because I do think of it as such) because I needed to learn how to sing in my own voice.
DeleteI think I might have this. For a while I’ve just written it off as my adhd, because I accidentally copy people’s accents when I’m talking to them, and my dad (adhd) does the same thing. I thought the reason he does it is because he also feels the way someone is speaking, but whenever I explain it to others I just get blank stares. I’ve gotten multiple roles in plays because I’m great at copying accents, but whenever I would try to help someone else do the same accent I would be so confused why they couldn’t do it. It’s not just accents though. I’ve been copying the way singers sound since I was a toddler. It’s really freaky.
ReplyDeleteI have this. It seems to be stronger with fictional characters and animals. It's an extremely vivid sensation, it's as if my tongue, lips, teeth, and throat are moving like I'm saying what the person is saying, even though my mouth is completely still. It's so weird. And it also happens with songs, and basically any sound a person makes with their mouth. It happens anytime anyone makes any sound with their mouths. It's really vivid, and the only downside is when someone swears within my hearing range.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I have this. It's extremely vivid, even though I know my mouth is staying still. It also happens with sounds other than voices.
ReplyDeletewhy does this only happen to me in uncomfortable situations, like i don’t wanna feel a very scratchy voice or out of pitch singing or terrible voice effects😭
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you there, and understand you! It’s a mirror phenomenon, and mirror phenomena tend to be bad. Not always, but usually.
DeleteI have this too and things happen like I get a sore throat when I listen to a recording in Portuguese or I can’t stop clearing my throat when someone with a “frog in the their throat” speaks… and I hate it so much!
I can think of some possible tricks you could try, to get a better experience. I think we notice more if it’s a voice that bothers us, but have you tried concentrating on a voice you really love, and see what happens? A singer, for example?
(I have mirror-touch too and it’s nearly always unpleasant, but good ones do exist: for me it’s watching the left-handed badminton player or “being” a big dog and feeling sensations through a thick layer of shaggy fur. I’m sure some mirror-speech sensations would be good too, if you like what you’re hearing.)
If you’re an experimenter, you could try listening to a recording of your own voice, and see what happens. It would be interesting, and I think it couldn’t be bad :D