Synaesthesia (Mixing of the Senses)
Type: Transitory aura symptom — typically develops gradually over 5–20 minutes and resolves within 60 minutes.
What is it?
Synaesthesia is a temporary crossing of sensory pathways where stimulation in one sense triggers an experience in another. During migraine aura, sounds might trigger colors, or colors might evoke emotions or memories. This is a transitory phenomenon that occurs only during the aura phase.
What it feels like
When synaesthesia occurs as a migraine aura symptom, you may see colors when you hear sounds, or feel a visual response to music. The sensations are vivid and real, though you understand they are products of your brain’s temporary altered state. Numbers or letters may appear in specific colors. This experience can be quite enjoyable or mildly disorienting, depending on the specific phenomena.
The Audio Aura Ball: an object that changes colour in response to the pitch of music — a visual analogy for auditory-visual synaesthesia.
E.F., Synaesthetic perception of migraine headache, 2006. Artwork depicting the synaesthetic experience of a migraine.
How patients describe it
“I have had migraine aura, but that does mess with my vision, and sound colours don’t.” — Jac
“I have long believed, in my untutored layperson’s opinion, that I have a mild case of synesthesia, the phenomenon which causes a stimulus in one modality to evoke a response in another modality. The arrival of seven o’clock, for example, is registered in my consciousness by means of the color brown, regardless of morning or evening hours.” — B.Z.
“I can relate to this. I’m a HA sufferer (13 years), and I have always associated colors to the days of the week (Saturday is black, Sunday yellow, etc.).” — T.E.
Subtypes
Auditory-Visual Synaesthesia
Sounds trigger visual experiences. Music, voices, or environmental noises produce color or geometric patterns.
Colour-Number Associations
Numbers, letters, or days of the week appear in specific colors. For example, the number 7 always appears brown, or Monday is always red.
Chromaesthesia (Sound-Color Perception)
Sounds are perceived as having colors. High-pitched sounds might appear as bright colors, while low sounds appear as darker tones.
Related symptoms
- Visual hallucinations and geometric patterns
- Depersonalization and altered consciousness
- Time perception disturbances
- Visual illusions
Clinical note
Transitory synaesthesia during migraine aura is a fascinating but harmless phenomenon. It resolves completely once the aura phase ends. Some people find it pleasant or even creative. If synaesthesia persists long after your migraine ends or occurs outside of migraine episodes, consult your doctor to explore other possible causes.
If this is the first time you experience these symptoms, or they feel different from previous episodes, seek medical evaluation to rule out other causes.