The Synesthesia Challenge - Is your brain hard-wired for creativity?

Synesthesia is the overlapping of the senses. Have you ever pictured a number in your head and noticed that it has a certain color? For someone with synesthesia, senses like sight and sound often cross over into one another and create involuntary assocations. Synesthesia is very common among artists, musicians, and other creative individuals. This 8 question quiz will test how cross-wired your senses are.

BEGIN CHALLENGE

About this website
This website was inspired by this brilliant lecture from Vilayanur Ramachandran, where he discusses the workings of the brain, synesthesia, and a variety of other interesting brain-related subjects.

Question 1. Martian Alphabet

Pretend these are two letters from the martian alphabet. One of them represents the martian letter "kiki", the other represents "bouba."

Click on the symbol you think represents "kiki."

Question 2. Numbers

Look at these numbers, then close your eyes and visualize them in your mind, as if you're looking at them printed on a sheet of paper, but imagine each number having a color.

Once you have a clear idea of the color of each number, enter the colors you see here:

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 5
• 7
• 9

If you do not have a color for some or all of these numbers, just leave the field blank

Continue to next question

Question 3. Sound (Part 1)

Listen to the following sound and pick the color that best describes what you hear.

(CLICK TO PLAY SOUND #1)
           

Question 4. Sound (Part 2)

Now, listen to a different sound and choose the color that best describes what you hear.

(CLICK TO PLAY SOUND #2)
           

Question 5. Time

Have you ever associated lengths of time with three dimensional spaces? For example, does your memory of kindergarten feel as if it's miles away, but yesterday seems like it's within arms reach?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe / Unsure

Question 6. Find the Triangle

The diagram below contains 5's and 2's. Try to spot all the instances of the number 2, they are grouped together.

How long did it take you to spot all the instances of 2?

• Instantly
• 2-5 Seconds
• 5-10 Seconds
• More than 10 seconds

Question 7. Days

When you think of days of the week (monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday), do days of the week have certain colors or other sensory associations? For instance, does friday make you think of the color red, or does monday have a taste, such as bitter or sweet? This applies to all the senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, or touch.

• Yes, every day of the week has a sensory association
• Yes, but only a few days have sensory associations
• No, none of the days of the week have sensory associations

Question 8. Numbers (Part 2)

These are the same numbers we showed you in question #2. Visualize them again and enter the colors you see. If they are the same as in question 2, enter them exactly as you did before

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 5
• 7
• 9

If you do not have a color for some or all of these numbers, just leave the field blank

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