Spacial-sequence synesthesia (SSS) is a phenomenon where you automatically assign spatial locations to the members of ordinal lists, such as the months of the year or the letters of the alphabet. This lesson will discuss the definition and causes of SSS, as well as the reported effects of this phenomenon.
If I were to ask you where six o'clock is in the air around you, you would probably give me a rather odd look. Some people, however, have a very definite idea of exactly where six o'clock is. In fact, the entire span of the clock extends around them like a ring, each hour situated in its own place on the ring.
Spacial-sequence synesthesia (also called SSS, sequence-space synesthesia, and spatial-sequence synesthesia) is a condition where an individual senses a physical position of the objects in an ordinal list, automatically and consistently knowing where each element is. If you have ever used the loci memory device, you formed a mental connection between familiar objects or places and items on a list. For example, if you can visualize your living room, you can visualize one of the memory items at key locations in the living room. To remember the list, you mentally glance around the room, noting the items where you have 'placed' them. Similarly, some people mentally place the months of the year on their knuckles, spaces between the knuckles representing the months with fewer days.
Those who experience SSS automatically have list items connected to locations in their minds. Whether they use visual cues or merely sense positions, the location is very real to them, and they can easily access information by visualizing this location.
How is Spacial-Sequence Synesthesia Experienced?
People experiencing the spacial-sequence synesthesia effect automatically know the location of each member of an ordinal list, but the way this knowledge is experienced varies from person to person. For example, sometimes a person will visualize item locations with their mind's eye. The seemingly physical location of that list item is visible in their imagination. For other people, the location is more of a presence--that is, they can tell if they are facing toward it or away from it, but they do not automatically visualize it. So this would mean that you might mention that you are 'walking toward Monday' when you move across the room, but 'walking toward Friday' if you are headed in the opposite direction. Both locations are real to you, even though you do not actually see anything in their position--rather like sensing the warmth of a stove with your eyes closed.
How and Why Do SSS Phenomena Occur?
Although spacial-sequence synesthesia has been studied for over a hundred years, neuroscientists still do not completely understand why it occurs or what specific neurological events are taking place that cause the phenomenon. Like other people with synesthesia, those who experience SSS tend to have denser gray matter (areas of the brain where the neurons tend to be closely connected and are not sheathed with myelin) in the areas that process affected functions, which seems to indicate that there are closer contacts for signal processing and the possibility of 'crossed circuits' in the brain. However, there is no conclusive evidence that this is the cause of SSS, which remains largely a mystery.
When you experience spacial-sequence synesthesia, you automatically connect locations in your perceptual world to members of ordinal lists, such as the letters of the alphabet or months of the year. These locations are consistent and very real to your mind. You may or may not 'see' them in your mind, but you definitely know where they are. This phenomenon can make it easier to remember lists, since your mind tends to place the list members in locations for you, somewhat like the loci method of remembering items. The cause of this phenomenon is unknown, but those who experience SSS often view it as a positive experience.
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