What? Are you making that up?
No, I'm not. If you asked the color of a letter or number in my head I would tell you
the same color for letter 'J' today as I would have when I was 16. I will give you the same response ten years from now.
For me 'J' is always a light green. Anyone with this condition will do the same. The chart above shows you the
colors that I personally see when I think of that letter or number. I don't actually see it like that, I see what normal
people see, but in my mind's eye I'm thinking of the color as well.
Were you born like that?
Yes and no. Scientists that study it theorize that due a mutated gene some of the synapses or relays in the brain
of a person with grapheme-color synesthesia don't get pruned properly during development. That is, as I was growing
in the womb all of the pathways didn't fully separate out like in a normal person's brain. So my brain has too many connections
between the part where I experience color and the part where I store information. So after I was born, all that was left was for me to
get the input to store the information along with the color I experience for it.
I think the Fisher-Price magnets I had when I was younger provided most of the color input for me and now that I had
both the pathways setup and the information inputted I was all set.
So you're a mutant?
Yes! I went through life thinking everyone saw numbers in their head this way. I asked my first girlfriend what color
she though the numbers were thinking it would be a fun topic and she was like: "wtf are you talking about?" I realized then
that not everyone sees colors in their head when they think of letters or numbers (or even whole words).
I didn't know that it happened to other people until I stumbled upon a website where someone mentioned the
word "synesthesia" (Like the nerd that I am, I had to look up the word).
So I looked up the word and discovered the condition and that, yup, I'm a mutant. And I have a power that
not everyone has! Not an especially useful power, but a power none-the-less, no?
How do I know if I have grapheme-color synthesia too?
There are certain online tests, but if you have it, and you read this page up until this point, you'd probably know
if you have it or not.
The grapheme-color synesthesia test is quite simple. You are shown numbers and letters one at a time. You choose
the color you see in your head when you think of that number or letter. After you are done, wait a few minutes and
take the test a second time. If you consistently pick the same color for all the numbers and letters and you genuinely took
the test with colors you see in your head then you have grapheme-color synethesia.
Further Reading
Check out Wikipedia's article about it.