Also occasionally called number-space synesthesia
A type of spatial sequence synesthesia
(Image: Ailsa in Ailsa Brims Fine Art)
People with this type of synesthesia
perceive numbers as a sequence visualised spatially, around them or in front
of them. The spatial positioning is
highly consistent and tends not to vary throughout the synesthete’s lifetime. For many of these
people, each number also has its own colour (so number-form coexists with
grapheme-colour synesthesia in this case), or their number maps have shading
effects. These synesthetes
frequently visualise the numbers spatially in relation to themselves, with a
perspective that varies according to the number they have in mind at any given
time. The maps are
three-dimensional and assume many different forms: they can be straight
or curving, with one or more changes of direction, with right angles, peaks and
dips, spirals, zigzags, steps or ladder-like structures, going from right to left or
vice versa, climbing up or disappearing on the horizon as the numbers get
larger, and they may look tidy and well-organised or appear chaotic, only
making sense to their “owner”. In any case, it can safely be said that there
are as many spatial numerical maps as there are number-form synesthetes, as this type of synesthesia is just as idiosyncratic as any
other.
(Image: Sarah, in the blog Terra Nomad.)
What percentage of synesthetes have this specific subtype? There do not appear to be any studies giving a conclusive number, but it probably occurs in the majority of people who have calendar synesthesia (estimated at 20%, N. Sagiv et al, 2005) and also in some others who do not have the calendar type, so it is likely to be relatively common.
Projector synesthetes, who are a minority, see their sequences physically in the space around them, while associators perceive a well-defined and consistent map in their mind’s eye, always present in their lives.
(Image: from the book Des Phénomènes de Synopsie by Théodore Flournoy, 1893, p163.)
Having this type of synesthesia often helps the synesthete to perform
mental calculations and these people sometimes excel at mathematics, as they
can easily navigate through their visual numbers, handling and remembering them
at will.
(Image: Francis Galton, 1881)
All the above examples are for natural numbers, but there are also synesthetes with mental maps for other numerical sequences: age, height and/or weight measurements, temperatures (meteorological or body temperature), clothes sizes, shoe sizes, salaries and so on.
Go to the page on spatial sequence synesthesia in general
Go to the page on alphabet-form synesthesia
Re: Sarah, Terra Nomad photo above. Similar to mine and I remember forming mine around three years of age. Note, we are first taught numbers 1-10, then 11-20, then 21-100. Note the turns at each new lesson. I remember these lessons and how I responded to them. I was excited to learn and one to ten was wonderful! But the next day at school, I learned there were more! My 1-10 extended straight up and away from me, so I just continued the 11-20 on up. But! The next day! Even more! 21-100! I had to make a sharp right turn, as there were just sooo many numbers! So 21-100 went right. As you might imagine, there were more to learn. At 100, I made another right turn up to 1000. At that point, the numbers became more nebulous and I allowed them to continue on into infinity. I have many of these spacial forms, but number and letter are the only ones I remember forming in my mind at an early age.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same way mine appeared too. I was introduced to numbers at 5 years old and started mapping them
DeleteMy number form is very similar to the picture at the very top of this site. 1 ist at 3 o'clock and the numbers go clockwise until 12 at 11 o'clock, then it goes on diagonally to the top left until infinity, with a few slight kinks at 100, 1000... negative numbers go diagonally in the other direction. I always thought everyone sees numbers that way, because its so similar to a clock. Today I learned its synaesthesia...
ReplyDeleteI didn’t realize this was out of the ordinary until this year, and I’m 56. I got a puzzled look when I asked how somebody saw numbers in their head.
ReplyDeleteI also didn’t know there was a term for it until today. I see whole numbers climbing up like steps, angling a bit for each group of ten. I see years and decades, starting this year going down to the left and then turning to the left a little bit more to the left each decade then right and down at about 1970.
That's how I see calendars and maps of numbers. Calendars are a visual line like a ribbon that I can move back and forth at will to either think about a time period or calculate the time between two dates. I can also use it to tell anyone within a few seconds the day of the week they were born if they tell me their date of birth. I thought this was how the world saw numbers, until I too mentioned it to someone and got a look from them like I was crazy. Nice to see we are not alone with this skill!
DeleteMine are similar to some of these - somewhat like a clockface for one to 12, then off to the left for 13-20. But then the twenties, thirties etc are also similar clock face like. And if I zoom out, the whole lot 1-100 are on a semi circular path, as is 100-1000. But I know mine are not 2D - 20 is higher than 12, 100 higher than 20. And mine include negative numbers, and there is a space for irrational numbers (eg square root of -1), not that I can see them, just a space for them
ReplyDeleteSince I was about 12 Ive noticed that I can see the numbers years months days of the week all around me but I thought everyone visualized these things like me. Additionally I can recall my life year by year. I asked one day a friend of mine if she can see the all the numbers at once. I find it to be a gift.
ReplyDeleteOnly just stumbled across this. I'm 56 and never realised there was a term for this and honestly thought everyone saw numbers and days of the week/months as a 'diagram' for want of a better word. I'm mind blown. Like others, my 1-12 are like a clockface and then the numbers go up to twenty, then dip steeply to 25 and then start to rise again to 30. The pattern is repeated up to 100 and the clock face starts again at 101 and then repeats as before after 12. The light around the numbers between 15 and about 30 appears darker for some reason. Like from sunlight to cloud. Months go from top to bottom and each new year it jumps up to the top to start again. .For days of the week, the weekends are high and then from Monday the days drop with Wednesday at the lowest point. They then climb again to the weekend. I can see over the top of weeks - its like a series of curves. Thanks for this
ReplyDeleteMy younger years I had no problem with math.. in my mind I see a number and it’s associated with the density of weight…. Once I reached algebra .. I would fail.. because I would come to the correct answer but the work I would do to get there would not be what they were looking for so it would be wrong and I would fail that test….. I always had trouble figuring out the correct formula… But I usually can find the correct result just in formulas that don’t make sense anybody else… Which is usually longer and harder and more complicated… I still see numbers as a form of density but yet have not ever met another person who has the same thing… My search continues
ReplyDeleteNiice blog thanks for posting
ReplyDeleteNice post thanks for shaaring
ReplyDelete