My Mother described something that I thought very strange. When she performs any type of mental math, she has this "grid" of numbers that she pictures mentally. She says that she has done this since she was a child. The numbers are always in the same positions, each having its own "spot" in her brain. Do you have a set pattern for numbers that you visualize?

My mother's "mental numeric map" looks like this...

My Mother's Numeric Mental Map

Please let me know if you possess a grid like my Mother's. I'd be curious to know.
e-mail me




To top that off, I recently spoke with my Aunt (Mom's sister) and guess what? Yep, she shares this same oddity! Her pattern is different from that of my mother. Here's what she "sees".....


Then, I really started to root around the ole' family tree and found out that one of my brothers also visualizes numbers in his mind. I'll have to spend some time figuring out how to present his version though ...his mental numeric map is three-dimensional!!!
I've received emails from many people who have stumbled upon this page to let me know "hey, I do that, too"!! I'd like to send a special "thank you" to Shea T. who emailed me in September of 2008. She was the one who finally put a name on this phenomenon - it's called "synesthesia". According to Wikipedia, it's estimated that synesthesia could be as prevelant as 1 in 23 persons. "Synesthetes often report that they were unaware their experiences were unusual until they realized other people did not have them...".


<< Back to Main Page