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Background <p>Synesthesia refers to a neurological condition in which stimuli from one sensory pathway induce perception via another sensory pathway. This study evaluated self-reported synesthesia related experiences, awareness of such experiences, and other associated demographic and clinical attributes among undergraduate medical students.</p> Methods <p>This cross-sectional online survey targeted 617 medical students aged 18–25 years during the 2024–2025 academic year. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire on demographics, awareness of synesthesia-related experiences, selected medical and psychological factors, and their possible relevance to education. All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 25.0).</p> Results <p>Among the 617 participants, 53.5% were female, and 46.5% were male. Only 31.8% of the participants reported previous familiarity with synesthesia-like associations. Self-reported experiences compatible with synesthesia-related subtypes varied across chromesthesia-related, grapheme-color-related, lexical-gustatory-related, time-space-related, and numerical-form-related items. Differences were also established based on gender for some items. Female participants more frequently reported headaches and synesthesia-related experiences, whereas male participants more often selected responses indicating no such experiences and more frequently endorsed numerical form-related items (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Age did not show any significant differences. Significant correlations also existed among the synesthetic subtypes, with chromesthesia exhibiting a positive correlation with grapheme-color, lexical-gustatory, time-space, and numerical form synesthetics (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001).</p> Conclusion <p>Awareness of synesthesia was low among the medical students in this study. Although some participants reported experiences compatible with synesthesia-related phenomena, these results do not confirm the prevalence of synesthesia. Instead, they described patterns of self-reported synesthesia-related experiences in an undergraduate medical student sample. Future studies using validated diagnostic and consistency-based tools are needed to determine the true frequency and educational relevance of confirmed synesthesia among medical students.</p>

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Awareness and self-reported synesthesia related experiences among undergraduate medical students: a cross-sectional study

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月21日

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  • Eren Ogut,
  • Lara Genc,
  • Emir Mustafa Buldur,
  • Tugba Gizem Sertduser,
  • Dila Bade Ay,
  • Davut Demir,
  • Merve Akkurt,
  • Sıla Meryem Inal,
  • Gokhan Balci,
  • Humeyra Elifsu Ince,
  • Aysegul Mergen

摘要

Background

Synesthesia refers to a neurological condition in which stimuli from one sensory pathway induce perception via another sensory pathway. This study evaluated self-reported synesthesia related experiences, awareness of such experiences, and other associated demographic and clinical attributes among undergraduate medical students.

Methods

This cross-sectional online survey targeted 617 medical students aged 18–25 years during the 2024–2025 academic year. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire on demographics, awareness of synesthesia-related experiences, selected medical and psychological factors, and their possible relevance to education. All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 25.0).

Results

Among the 617 participants, 53.5% were female, and 46.5% were male. Only 31.8% of the participants reported previous familiarity with synesthesia-like associations. Self-reported experiences compatible with synesthesia-related subtypes varied across chromesthesia-related, grapheme-color-related, lexical-gustatory-related, time-space-related, and numerical-form-related items. Differences were also established based on gender for some items. Female participants more frequently reported headaches and synesthesia-related experiences, whereas male participants more often selected responses indicating no such experiences and more frequently endorsed numerical form-related items (p < 0.001). Age did not show any significant differences. Significant correlations also existed among the synesthetic subtypes, with chromesthesia exhibiting a positive correlation with grapheme-color, lexical-gustatory, time-space, and numerical form synesthetics (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Awareness of synesthesia was low among the medical students in this study. Although some participants reported experiences compatible with synesthesia-related phenomena, these results do not confirm the prevalence of synesthesia. Instead, they described patterns of self-reported synesthesia-related experiences in an undergraduate medical student sample. Future studies using validated diagnostic and consistency-based tools are needed to determine the true frequency and educational relevance of confirmed synesthesia among medical students.