What are synesthetes like?
There is once again a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that we’re not really sure, but we have some good leads. The long answer is we’re not sure and that our leads may be wrong. First, what we do know or what we think we know. All “true” synesthetes have had their synesthesia from a young age, with their earliest memories as from as young of an age as two or three. Synesthetes are more often female, by a rough figure of almost two to one. Synesthetes tend to have other family members, usually female, with synesthesia, suggesting a potential genetic component. Synesthetes tend to be more artistic, or drawn towards more creative and/or artistic professions and hobbies. They usually perform higher on cognitive assessment tests such as the WAIS-R, higher on memory tests such as the CVLT, but lower on tests of spatial function. There is a preponderance of English-speaking Caucasians, but this is most likely a sampling bias and probably not representative of actual number
