SpongeJim

Thank you for doing this Dr. Salinas.

I myself have at least two forms of synesthesia, number form (I see numbers on a plane/following a specific path as I count in my head) and personification (numbers have a distinct anthropomorphized personality to me). However, I didn't realize this was in any way different from other people (or even think about it at all, really) until I saw a documentary about synesthesia about 10 years ago, which led me to the Wikipedia page on the subject. It was a little mind-blowing to say the least!

Anyway, I first want to ask - when/at what age did you realize your experience wasn't common? I could imagine yours being so directly coupled with the experience of others it could have you making the distinction sooner. I'd also like to ask if you have a "visual" memory and way of thinking? I am pretty much completely a visual thinker and I wonder if that contributes to or is at all correlated with having synesthesia? And lastly, I also have what I've read is called "super recognition", i.e. I don't forget people's faces, and I can usually recognize someone from almost any age, i.e. if I see a picture of someone from say the age of 1-2 or older I can usually recognize and immediately "transform" that face into the adult one I've seen. Is that also in any way related to this family of uncommon sensory experiences?

Thanks again!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer, this is fascinating and gives me some great insight into this field (and myself)! :)