Hypnagogic Synaesthesia

Mind

Over the past three terms, I've become aware of a strange connection between sounds and visual images in my mind. When lying in bed and trying to fall asleep, with my eyes closed and thoughts mostly empty, I frequently experience visual patterns in response to loud or sudden noises. The first time it happened, my roommate's Macintosh computer emitted an unexpected and loud 'bonk' noise as an alert. Simultaneously, a diagonally oriented field of wavy white and black lines flashed before my eyes. The intensity of the pattern varied smoothly from black to white, so no clear delineations were perceivable. I estimate that there were about twenty to thirty of these lines visible, to give some representation of their density.

The perception lay somewhere between reality and imagination; not a concrete object in the world, but also not a "minds eye" sort of projection. It's analogous to the experience of seeing whorls and cascades of shadowy color when you press on your eyeballs for a few minutes, except it occurred suddenly, and faded as quickly as the sound. It also feels like there's an extra component to the experience, as well: it's not just a field of lines, but a visual feeling of orientation. That bit is much harder to describe or even verify, but it does seem present.

At first I thought I was hallucinating, or deceiving myself. Yet the experience surprised me time and time again, and has been consistent: it's happened twice this week. Door slamming, alert sounds, even ceramic mugs being set down on a wooden desk: all have associated unique visual patterns. The intensity, orientation, density, and waviness of the lines seems correlated with the character of the sound: the mug, for example, evoked a short-lived, vertical, dense, and straight field of lines. Sometimes I see cross-hatching, or a simple uniform flash. I plan to record these experiences from now on, and will try to characterize the relationship in more detail.

I wonder if this happens to anyone else.

June 1st 2007: Andy Howe confirms that he also has noticed cross-hatch patterns with loud noises before sleep.

doop
doop on

Hello! Your description of hypnagogic synaesthesia came up when I googled for the phrase, while wondering if anyone else had the same thing. Your experience sounds exactly the same as mine - right down to the diagonal lines! I often find that they’re a bit zigzaggy, and they sort of wax and wane with the amplitude of the sound.

Eric
Eric on

I googled the same thing, ended up here. Although in my case there have always been a bright white flashing light that lasts for the fraction of a second that the sudden noise does. Right after that my heart starts beating faster for a few seconds, I guess it’s normal given the unexpected nature of a loud noise that engages our adrenaline levels in case of any imminent danger…

Basil
Basil on

I have the very same thing! If the noise is very loud it’s usually just a white flash, but sometimes I get lines or patterns. They definitely go with the sound. It only happens when I’m falling asleep.

Courtney
Courtney on

I googled a similar thing! But I was looking for something different. :/

I was looking for adrenaline or intense tiredness synesthesia. I was doing martial arts and had to stop because the purple was too intense.

This sounds cool though!

Charlotte
Charlotte on

Now I normally have sound-color/shape synesthesia, but one night as I was listening to music while falling asleep I noticed that I was tasting the music as well. It’s the only time it’s ever happened and went away as soon as I fully woke up. Now I’m looking into hypnagogic synesthesia. Glad I came across this post.

Michael
Michael on

I’m nearly ten years late here (it’s a shame that Google’s search results have this page buried under a pile of traditional “letters and numbers have colors” synesthesia search results) but the same thing happens to me, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this specific type of synesthesia happening to someone else.

Like you, it tends to happen to me when I’m relaxed, but the black and white images can vary. Sometimes it’s just a bright white flash, usually it’s a variety of black and white geometric patterns, and on rare occasions I see concrete black and white images. Two of the oddest images I’ve seen in this state was the phrase “Hi!” handwritten in black text in the lower right part of my field of vision on a white background, and the most complex image I’ve seen essentially looked like an actual woodblock print of people walking near a tree with an indecipherable caption underneath.

Thank you for posting this ten years ago - I feel less alone now :)

Dontez
Dontez on

Wow, I’ve been having the same thing! Only happens when I’m falling asleep. I’ve read other posts(on reddit). One thing that was consistent is, the others have had hard times falling asleep. I’ve had trouble sleeping for years… anyone else?

Bryan
Bryan on

I’m so glad this post exists. I can never remember the next morning to look this phenomenon up, but finally wrote it down to look it up. I experience this with sound, and perceive black and white diagonal strips that change direction halfway through the horizontal plane and travel inward, converging in the middle of the vertical plane. Essentially, it looks like these arrows that travel to the center and disappear. The movement is fast enough to perceive, maybe 10-20hz

Heather
Heather on

I don’t know if what I have is characterized as synesthesia. I do know that when I’ve described it to my husband he thinks I’m nuts. I do not see anything but as I’m falling asleep or very drowsy, I will feel sounds. The feeling is usually in my head, it feels like it’s in my brain, like a shockwave or a jolt when there is a noise. I don’t know if it is related but I also have sleep paralysis. Anyone else experience just the feeling of sound without visuals?

Goncalo
Goncalo on

I have some synesthesia, I can see all types of patterns or colors when hearing some musics, some more than others, some have more blueish colors, others reddish, etc. I can see clouds, stuff like clouds of smoke, etc. But I can see them not only when I go to bet but also when I woke up and during the day as long as I’m at a dark environment (because with light I can’t see them).

So I don’t have them only when I go to sleep but I’ve read that when we drink alchool or are very tired, the synesthesia receives a boost, so if someone drinks, the person is more likely to have it, or when very tired. So when I go to sleep the experience is enhanced. I see all kinds of clours, plasma waves, bright dots, nebulas, etc. In certain musics, more than in others.

Goncalo
Goncalo on

I have Synesthesia (not much strong though), and I have Hypnagogia also, and it happened to have them both at the same time (Hypnagogia patterns induced by sounds in Synesthesia).

Gary Eugenius Perlin
Gary Eugenius Perlin on

This happens to me—although I see all types of patterns. It seems different every time. For example, my cat just meowed (which is how I found myself finally googling this phenomena) and I saw black and white hexagons. I also see checkerboards, circular patterns, triangles, you name it, but always black and white.

Dissecting it further, I feel as if I’m that moment—from sound to shapes—I have a feeling that overtakes me as well… kind of a quick panic, but over in mere moments.

I would love to know more about where this comes from.

Chelsey
Chelsey on

Heather,

I feel the sounds as well as seeing patterns and shapes. It’s always when I’m falling asleep though.

Norma Young
Norma Young on

I’m exactly the same. Loud bang in my head on falling asleep, immediately followed by perfectly symmetrical shapes. Different patterns each time. I find it odd however, these shapes are perfectly symmetrical - it’s so weird. Its great to know there are others and I’m not crazy?

Rose Marie
Rose Marie on

I have the same thing. If I am lying there with my eyes closed and hear an unexpected noise, I will see a pattern. It can be any kind of pattern. Once was a gold, metallic stencil-like flower. Once looked like something similar to the Eiffel Tower. Another like a Chinese word character. Never know what I’m going to see lol. I also have hypnogognic hallucinations at the onset of sleep. Those are horrid. They feel like I am dead. I am all alone. It’s all black. Sometimes I hear a buzz or humming, sometimes not. I have to ‘yank’ myself out of it. When I do, I yell, saying “NO!” or something, waking my husband. Imagine it happening every night, sometimes 3 times per night, thinking you are dead or dying. I cry just thinking about it. My doctor said that the crying can be PTSD as I die every night. I hate it.

Rose Marie
Rose Marie on

Also, sometimes when I close my eyes to go to sleep, flashes of a person will come to me. I don’t know the person. The person is always different. Sometimes they are yelling, sometimes just looking, sometimes laughing. But always a different ‘stranger’.

Robyn Crighton
Robyn Crighton on

I have these too. Very scarey.

Katherine Irving
Katherine Irving on

For those who hallucinate sounds accompanied by images, that’s Exploding Head Syndrome. I have what many other people here seem to have, when a real-life sound sparks a black-and-white pattern that flashes in my brain while I’m falling asleep. I’ve tried to explain this to people and they think I’m nuts. Glad to know I’m not alone.

gabi
gabi on

I have the same thing! I see geometric lines in flashes when a loud noise happens right before falling asleep! I was googling this and found this page. Thanks!!

Nick HD
Nick HD on

Me too! A sudden sound can trigger white or sometimes black flashes in my vision when I’m very relaxed, usually when my eyes are closed.

What drew me here, and now I’m sure they are related is something a little different. When relaxed, usually at night when I’m trying to fall asleep, I sometimes get detailed but impossibly difficult to explain (I’ll try) hallucinations. They can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. I’m lucid, I know it’s happening. It’s easy to “switch off” it isn’t forceful or upsetting. The vivid “sensation” of the hallucinations are not quite visual and not tactile. It’s like a weird middle ground between the two. So I could kind of describe the nearest equatable feeling from sight and sound. Man this is hard to explain hahaha - I’m laughing at how ridiculous this will sound. Imagine an empty and clear, old-school CD jewel case. Now break out the middle, so that only the frame is left. But not a clean edge to edge removal of the side panel, it needs to be a bit jagged. If you were to then inflate a balloon inside that frame, so that the CD case acts a bit like a corset for the balloon. It would be inflated on either side and look like a big 8 with a cd case hanging in the middle holding it all together, (btw this cd case also changes shapes but not 3 dimensional shapes). If you let that balloon mildly deflate itself by just lying around for a couple of days, and then picked it up, THAT is the kinda what it “feels” like in my mind, it’s so surreal and so vivid and I don’t have the vocabulary to describe it which is infuriating. I recognise it but can’t compare it to anything.

That was fun getting out in black and white - anyone else?

Lilith A.
Lilith A. on

Hi. I get this as well but instead of sound induced black and white Hallucinations I get a flash of a very detailed image of an object, place or person. It varies. When I’m most relaxed something as little as a short door creak sound will cause an image to flash in front of my eyes. It is always white flash like though, just with lots of details i.e the other day it was a flag/sign with black writing on it. It feels sort of like a Camera shutter going off in my head evrerytime I get these sound induced Hallucinations, except with no sound and the image develops very quickly and dissipates just as easily.

Judie
Judie on

I get this too, and have had it as long as I can remember. I see a pattern of black and white lines with a sort of radial symmetry. The patten always seems to correlate with the quality of the sound that woke me up. Would love to know the mechanism.

Joanne
Joanne on

I get this too, have done for as long as I can remember. When I close my eyes to fall asleep, o see a rolling image of bright lines which is only disturbed if I hear a loud/sudden noise, then I get a bright flash, like lightening bright, then the lines start rolling over again. I have experienced sleep paralysis in the past but not for many years thank goodness, as I found it terrifying.

Louise
Louise on

I get this too. It started a few years ago. I thought it was just me. Glad to know it isn’t ????

SGM
SGM on

A loud, sudden sound when I am resting my eye always causes me to see a checkerboard pattern in red and black. Very consistent. I don’t have to be falling asleep, just closing my eyes and resting.

Tangerino
Tangerino on

I just found this post, I thought I was the only one to see those lines.

I get a light HPPD few years ago, and I started to see those stuff at the same time. Now anytime I’m falling asleep and I get surprised by some noise my vision is completely filled with black and white diagonal stripes but like for 0.3 seconds.

At first I was scared of being epileptic or something but it seems it’s not armful just weird af.

Anyway don’t worry guys it’s probably just some alien trying to communicate with us from the future.

Mac
Mac on

I’ve had this experience since I can remember. I thought it was normal and happened to everybody! One of these things you never ask.

Kristen
Kristen on

I’ve had this experience of the geometric patterns when hearing a sudden noise for a couple years now, maybe longer. Good to be in the company of others who see the same!

Amber
Amber on

I am here because I have the same experiences. Black and white zigzag to sudden, loud booms when relaxing. But the margins between the zigzag are sort of spikey looking.

Jan Nagler
Jan Nagler on

I do see black-white stripes, maybe 50-100 lines all over the visual when I rest or almost fall asleep when a sudden sound sort of wakes me up. So exactly the same as reported by others. With me it is always about 45 degrees, or sort of close to that.

Mackenzie Simmons
Mackenzie Simmons on

Just like Heather said earlier I have the “relax reflex” as I described it to my doctor once.. I get the jolt or the shockwave but no images. Sometimes if I’m right on the very verge of being asleep I’ll get a camera flash of white but mostly it’s the shockwave. It sort of starts like in my shoulder or my C7 sometimes and just zaps through me. Also it’s really strange I was at Disneyland and I was in the lincoln exhibit and I heard the buzzing clippers like for hair in my headphones and it made my Right glute muscle tingle. It literally just was like an uncomfortable buzzing from my the top of my hip bone down to my femur attachment. It was so strange! I get the same feeling whenever I get my hair cut if they use the scissors right by my ear or the clippers, omg it’s so hard not to squirm. But yeah it’s really strange and I would love to know why or how and if it has a name!

Steve Nichol
Steve Nichol on

Asleep on my sides I’m fine. If I sleep on my back I get weird screeching and buzzing noises in my head. It feels like I’m racing along on my back at high speed. I get 50 black and white lines and it feels like I’m racing along them.

Abby
Abby on

This happens to me, I see black and white zig zag patterns or straight lines. It’s a very specific flash of an image. I’m glad I found this thread it’s hard to explain to people. It only happens when I’m relaxed and there is a sudden loud shocking noise.

Steven ferreira
Steven ferreira on

I had the same issue for most of my life im now 37 and for the last 8 plus years i have lost this. Its something i thing about, as a kid i did feel feelings also as electricity and felt as a compass as i knew every direction. I have lost all these feelings and now look back as a gift i didn’t take advantage of. Ive had few dreams come true that were life changing. #more to life then we currently know*

Marie
Marie on

I thought I was “different “ for seeing loud sounds. It happens when my eyes are closed or if I happen to blink. What I see is only in black and white. The shapes are very geometric and usually look more like a maze or a lot of tiny triangles/squares making very even patterns on all sides. I have done this since I was a little girl. When this happens I also get an electrical current through my brain and body, more like a sharp shocking feeling. I am glad to hear that others experience this too.

Jacob
Jacob on

I’m posting this the morning after having experienced a strange phenomenon. As I was transitioning from my normal waking state into my sleep state, I had my a mosaic of abstract patterns in my visual field with eyes shut. My cat was moving around so I was still not UF illy asleep and I adjusted my position in bed. This is where it gets weird. My visuals were still encompassing my visual field with squiggly lines and patterns almost like a field, and I reached out to pet my cat, I was able to make out the outline and shape of my hands quite clearly with eyes still completely shut. I began playing around with it, I lifted 2 fingers, and clearly saw the shape of my hand morphing the squiggly lined background. I then tried with my cat, when I pet her I am making out the shape of her body in detail. I’m wondering if this is some sort of sensory-motor-tactile/proprioceptive - visual synesthesia?

BBZM
BBZM on

It happens to me too, only when i am relaxed (before sleeping) or meditating. Flashes of white light, whirls and black (dark) stripes. Thanks for your post, i am not alone :)

rob
rob on

I have these flashes of light when it’s aparantly quiet. Late at night when its much quieter. It doesnt take much to get a flash. But so-called silence is still constantly interrupted. Even when your TV cools down, it makes cracking noises as the plastic snaps. Or the refridgerator clicks on. But when you get bright white flashes associated with sound, is it definitely Synaesthesia? So there are unusual neural paths tat have been connected? Superheros?! :S

Mandy
Mandy on

@Jacob, humans are bioluminescent. Look it up. I can see outlines with my eyes closed as well. It’s harder to see with my eyes open.

I’ve always been big into metaphysical stuff, which immediately invalidates anything I say with some people. I’ve also always been a huge science nerd, and I enjoy intwining the two. (example: For me, quantum entanglement explains astrology.) How many different types of energy have been “discovered” and harnessed just in the last 200 years? Some are not tangible without assistance. Humans are not aware of ultraviolet light without using a UV detecting device. The device takes something unseen and makes it seen. However, some animals have a greater visual range than we do and can see not only ultraviolet light, but can also see many more colors than humans. Energy isn’t just seen either. Dogs can hear beyond the human range. Bears can smell something from a mile away. It would be incredibly presumptuous to deny there are more types we have yet to realize. Once a type of energy can be defined, measured, and manipulated, it is accepted by society as real. Until then, it’s just a bunch of woo-woo crazy person stuff. That being said, is it so hard for those of us who have found this post to consider these common perceptions as another way we are perceiving energies? And who really knows the limit on what we can “see” or “hear”? People have all different levels of physical strength and intellectual ability. It stands to reason that some people must also have more developed senses than others.

I didn’t mean for this to be so long. I sincerely appreciate you reading it, however much you agree or disagree with what I’ve said.

Aphyr on

… quantum entanglement explains astrology.

Oh hey! I actually know a bit about this, because my undergrad research was in quantum state diffusion–a model of how quantum systems interact with classical (read: “bigger than a few atoms”) environments.

This is almost certainly not the case. The popular sense of “entanglement” refers to a quantum state which is shared between far-apart particles. This kind of entanglement is fragile and is effectively destroyed as soon the entangled system interacts with the rest of the world. In practical terms, entangled things have to be kept very carefully isolated from the rest of the world–kept in a near-vacuum, in ultra-cold freezers, etc. If you’re not currently frozen and floating in a vacuum chamber, you’re probably not entangled with anything. ;-)

There’s a more precise sense of “entanglement” in which any pair of interacting particles are entangled, but this is “boring”, in the sense that you can slap a tabletop and say “ooh, look, ENTANGLEMENT”. Two water molecules near each other in your brain? Entangled! That’s probably not useful for explaining astrology either.

Aphyr
Reyna
Reyna on

It happens to me as well, in different patterns. Sometimes it’s a zigzag like pattern and sometimes a spiral like pattern

Kristien Lemmens
Kristien Lemmens on

Oh, great post!! Thanks! Now I know I’m not allone. I also see different patterns.

Carolyn Kinloch-Winkler
Carolyn Kinloch-Winkler on

I have had this too all my life I think. My patterns are sometimes black and white, and sometimes in color. They vary with the sound. I’m an artist and I am fascinated by them. I wonder sometimes if everybody has this but are unaware of it, and that explains why we respond to totally abstract art. Sometimes on falling asleep I see a parade of human faces, one after another. They are not anyone I know but always in shades of brown, and very detailed. Wonderful! I also sometimes feel pain as a taste. For instance sore muscles seem sour.

Erin
Erin on

What an interesting club here. So, I googled this and bam! I’m transported to like-minded people! So glad I’m not the only one! I’ll have to use my new-found language. Cheers,

Freya Lim
Freya Lim on

Thank you for this post! I am 47yo and it only happened to me in recent months. Thought I was crazy but stumbled upon this post while doing research. It happens only when I am falling asleep and when startled by ambient sounds, With eyes still closed, I will see black and white psychedelic images, somethings in circles, other times in straight lines. It comes as fast as it goes away, at the same time as the sounds. Recently, I see blue colour. Pretty amazing…

Dash
Dash on

I am so happy this post exists. I enjoyed reading all these comments, and glad that I am not the only one! I don’t see patterns as most people described here- but flashes of light. Sometimes they go by very fast, sometimes slower. All while almost falling asleep. I’ve been experiencing this for 8 years now. On rare occasions I hear someone say something- and I know it’s in my head. While reading people’s experiences, I got goosebumps when I read one of the recent comments by Carolyn and her seeing “parade of faces”. Two years ago I traveled to Cuba, and on the first night of my vacation- I remember laying down in the hotel room closing my eyes (not even half a sleep, but a little drunk) and thinking to myself " how many people have stayed in this room?"…I closed my eyes and I saw faces of people- one after another. Very detailed- no one that I know. Each face for a split second. It was like seeing one photo after another for a bout 2 to 5 minutes and then it was all gone. It wasn’t a scary experience! Our minds are very complex- I can’t fully understand how that happened because even now when I try to picture a “stranger” in my head I don’t have the imagination to. Yet there were all these faces, so detailed and fast disappearing!

Sham
Sham on

For me, the experience is generally a ‘flash’ or ‘explosion’ of red to orange light, sometimes white. I was very interested to read this as I have experienced this all my life (though not regularly) and I never realised it was something that wasn’t common.

Marouf alsubaie
Marouf alsubaie on

i had same as you guys but without the noise thing i see a white flash when i was trying to sleep its happened already 2 times

Carly
Carly on

Was googling, zapping in my head with eyes closed followed by a bunch of black and white zigzag lines… and here we are. Actually thought I was having some kind of seizure type episode or beginning of a migraine. I’ve had the zapping feeling, which I can also hear, before. Usually there are flashes and shapes, but the lines of zigzags was a first. It happened twice within about 30 seconds lasting not but a second or two. Very interesting.

RJ
RJ on

Wow I get this too but it’s not always black on white. It can be blue on white, green on white, sometimes gold on white, even red or a rust-orange on white. Patterns are mostly zig zag but sometimes can be like zebra stripes.

I thought there was something wrong with my brain as it’s a fairly recent phenomenon in my life (only been happening the past few years).

Mia
Mia on

I experienced an Acute Stroke to my left Optic Nerve about a month ago. Now l see sparks, flashes, streaks of lights. Different colors, but l see them when I’m resting with my eyes closed and l hear a noise. It’s weird, from what I’ve read here it doesn’t go away.

Cat
Cat on

A few days ago after drifting to sleep a very loud pop in my head followed by an illuminating circle of bright white light woke me up. This phenomenon felt like an explosion in my brain.

Just a guy
Just a guy on

I experience this all the time when falling asleep especially when tired and would find it easy to quickly fall asleep. Any sudden noise would:

a) appear extremely loud even if it wasn’t b) be accompanied by a sensation of being startled, like a momentary rush of adrenaline through the body c) be accompanied by an image that strongly flashes in the field of vision, simultaneously with the sound that caused it

The image would be comprised of random rectangular patches of muted or fluorescent reds, greens, blues, checkerboard patterns or pure white noise, and there would sometimes be a strip of white noise separating the image in two halves. I think I remember circles, triangles and diagonal lines as well but the most common are white noise and square and rectangle shapes (sometimes distorted and not perfect shapes).

The closest description of these distortions is the random output on your TV screen that you would get if you jerked one of those old video game cartridges while it was playing in the console, and that would produce a jumbled up mess of distorted shapes, patterns and colours on the screen.

And other times it would just be a flash of white noise, also resembling an old TV that has been tuned to a dead channel. The whole sensation feels much more like shorting an electric circuit than anything that could be described in biological terms.

Jenny
Jenny on

For many years seeing “shapes” or patterns when hearing music. Anyone else see shapes in black and white (maybe silver) when they listen to music. Almost in the minds eye and hard to recreate explain or draw.

Mike
Mike on

I recently had a retina detach, I’m in my 30s, and this has all been so random. Talked to multiple doctors about this “sound to light” process while sleeping. Turns into some joke so I started googling this. Read some old publications it can be related to lidocaine after surgery. As a neuroscience graduate, my original theory is that while the eye sheds and re grows new neurons, there may be branching that extends incorrectly in the temporal lobe with the optic nerve. Therefore you simply have a sound that is wrongly being sent to the visual cortex, causing you to react as if your body is trying to protect itself from whatever could be putting you in danger. A good fight or flight response… when it works properly

Brightspark
Brightspark on

I have tried to explain this to so many people and they think I am crazy!

Majority of the time it’s when I’m trying to sleep and the TV let’s of a loud cracking/static noise. Instantly i’ll get a bright flash in my eyes. Someone else above explained that the feeling with it to, does feel electrical. Like a static charge in the brain. Super weird!

Out of curiosity- Anyone else feel they feel are more susceptible to hearing frequencies? Weird stuff with electronics, lights etc?

Abhilash
Abhilash on

Glad to know I am not the only one with the experience. I started noticing this couple of years ago. For me it always black and white geometric patterns like strips, concentric circles or rombuses whenever I am startled with a sharp short sound during my light sleep.

For anyone doing research on this: Situation: When I hear a sharp sound (phone notifications, door bells, some in the other room dropped a solid object etc..) when trying to take a nap/light sleep. Patterns observed: Always geometric. Strips, concentric squares and rombuses Color: Always Black and white Direction: Pattern originating form corner of my eyes or sometimes in the center. Duration: In milliseconds almost the duration of the first note of the sound.

Thibaut
Thibaut on

Hi ! I juste had one, and I feel really thankful to read all of your experiences guys. My flashes are also horizontal lines when I fall asleep. There are like 20 or 30, and last liste 500ms when I hear a sudden noise in the dark. Also, when it happens, I try to reproduce it, but I cannot even if I want to. It only works for spontaneous none predictable sounds (like my cat making a loud noise). It is funny because we may have this characteristic because of some random evolution trial that stayed in our DNA for unknown reason. Well, I should go back to sleep ! Thanks for the name of this “condition”

Em
Em on

I had these flashes for years now, they come up with a jerk caused by any smallest noise just before sleep, although Im still not asleep, just relaxed. Always black and white lines, zig zags, mandalas, hexagones, straight horizontal lines. I have to admit I kind of welcome these now. I got used to them :) I feel it’s some kind of binary coding. Not sure if DNA or subconscious state… one day ot all will be revealed to me :)

jellybean
jellybean on

I am so excited to stumble across this page and read all these comments! I’ve had this same thing and nobody seems to understand me about it, not even the doctors I’ve mentioned it to.

If I hear a loud noise in the dark I get a flash and the black and white zig zags, and I can feel the sound briefly, which causes my heartbeat to speed up for a few seconds. Almost like a cartoon bonk. A handful of times I have also had my eyes closed and gotten a brief bright light flare, almost like a white firework behind my eyes, but that hasn’t happened in a long time now.

dream2
dream2 on

I see black and white grid of diamond shapes or very densely packed zig zag lines when hearing sudden loud sound when I’m about to fall asleep. Sometimes my muscle would jerk too. It felt like I was kicking something, though I couldn’t tell if I actually moved, or that was just a sensation.

My pet theory is that when hearing the sound, our brain is trying to build a mental map for where that sound comes from, possibly as a reflex against treat. However, the visual system is half asleep and couldn’t fully visualize the location of the sound. Instead, it outputs unfiltered/raw signals, which we perceive as zig zags.

Curiously, are these patterns based on our learned experience? Or do they reflect the lower level neurological structure of the optical nerves? If the former, how come all of us are seeing similar things despite our different experiences in life? If the latter, is it possible that these lines represent the low-level feature detection capabilities, such as edge detection and pattern matching, implemented by a grid of cells in the optical nerves?

Chantel
Chantel on

Praise the Lord I found this…and all. The enters.. and I feel a little less cray cray. I’ve been experiencing this for a long time ….but it’s so hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t. Mine is the traditional blackish whitish zig zag upon hearing abrupt Boise whisky trying to fall asleep. I have multiple sleep disorders..

Is this something we should be telling the doctor ?

Love.

Erik
Erik on

I also have this, but instead of wavy lines its more like my entire field of view is tv static, its accompanied by the same electrical like feeling that others have described…. its quite jarring to have happen while trying to fall asleep. it seems to happen when I hear an unexpected sudden sound, but it also doesn’t always occur.

Seeingstuff
Seeingstuff on

Glad to know I’m not the only one. I see this exact kind of alternating black and white pattern when I’m startled too. Has anybody figured out the reason for this yet?

Erick
Erick on

This Happens to me but its a series of rapidly growing and shrinking shapes and unknown objects that grow into a giant black hole like thing that towers over me and glitches and moves and shrinks and grows and causes me to hyperventilate and twitch. I’m perfectly awake but I cant wake up but I’m glad this happens to others too

Kirsi
Kirsi on

Hi all,

Just woke up to the sound of dishes crashing, though not in real life. Lately a lot of exploding head experiences like diving in a pool where a red square scarf was swimming towards me like a sting ray and then a sudden loud clap with just all horror of the world infused in it. Have some forms of synesthesia so probably related, I see spoken language as text on an inner monitor, 2 to 3 worlds appear at a time and fade away. Also numbers, days and months have colors and textures like the number 8 is green with a moist moss like texture and Friday is tiedye blue and black and a bit ominous. One thing I would like to know is do others have this: when going to sleep and closing your eyes, different people and character (and monsters) appear from the blackness. Everything from the stone age, 1800s to imaginary creatures. They are mostöy silent, but look at you as if they know you. Its very creepy. I have no mental illnesses, a normal mom of two with a job requiring a level head and analytical skills. Treating these as an extra bonus on life, but sometimes the nightlife i.e terrors and sick dreams leave me very tired.

Harold
Harold on

I came across your post, which is a little bit related to what I just experienced for the first time.

I was sitting here rocking in my recliner when I felt myself nodding off from watching Stargate SG-1. I had no more than nodded off when I saw what looked like two white lines converging away from me into one white line going very far away.

In an instant it was as if something caused the line to snap or break and come back at me, which did hit me and woke me up. Internally it hurt as if something hit my mental thoughts but it felt more spiritual. I know this may sound nuts, yet it concerns me as to what just happened.

I have been having irregular sleeping patterns, yet I do not feel that this has anything to do with it. Would you know of anyone who has had something similar happen to them? Thanks.

Dash
Dash on

I’ve been seeing flashes of light before going to bed for almost ten years. I saved this post and sometimes go back to it, and read what new people post because I think this is so interesting.

I do not hear sounds, but from a few comments that I’ve read on here- some people see faces of people they have never met. THIS has happened to me twice and it was very very odd experience- this whole phenomenon is so interesting!

Also I also notice that I see flashes more often when my sleep pattern is messed up or I am sleep deprived.

Gush
Gush on

I’ve just recently started having these. A sudden noise while going to sleep and usually I see coloured wavy stripes, tonight they were blue and black. I was a bit worried as I’m over 60 and never expected to have synesthesia. Glad this post exists. Thanks.

Hannah
Hannah on

Yes, I see sound too. Not only while laying down or with loud noises but those times are when it is too bright to ignore.

Yanik
Yanik on

I do experience exactly what you are describing. The black and whie lines when surprised by a sound, it must happen few times per month. I always blamed this phenomenon over doing MDMA couple times during one summer when I was about 20. I felt like it was like a flashback or idk, but could also not be related. Well cool to see some other people see that too. Personally I don’t mind it. Found the website because I just did a google research after I experienced it (loud noise from upstairs neighbor.

Monta
Monta on

Been many many years since this was posted! ITs 2022 now and this is the only post that I could find about EXACTLY what’s going on! Thank you 🙏

Studebaker
Studebaker on

Thankfully, for most of you this seems to be only benign thing and no symptom of anything dangerous. But i believe i know WHY this is happening, or better to say why it happened to me. Every human brain is slightly different but i believe this phenomena is caused by brain hiperreactivity caused by too low serotonin,and maybe messed dopamine and noradrenaline.

This started happenning to me 4 years ago, seeing briefly static lines when resting and being startled, but then in summer of 2021, it became accompanied by “buzzing” in my head, incredibly awful feeling lasting many hours a day. Also, from nowhere appeared many other symptoms, from seeing static in my vision to low frequency tremor and extreme fatigue, to name few of them. I was confined to bed, altough before that i lived healthy and active lifestyle and i am only 37 years old. After lot of money and many doctors who didn’t help,including multiple neuroligists, neuro opthalmologists and psychiatrists, i finally found old neuropsychiatrist in Zagreb (i am from Croatia), she immediately knew what was wrong, gave me very low dose of antypsichotic, standard dose of antidepressant and little klonopin in the evening. In few days everything stopped and i am back to normal.

Gael
Gael on

Like many of previous comments, I see black and white graphic patterns (often zigzag lines) if I’m tired and hear an unexpected noise. I was looking up synaesthesia and found your page.

Cue
Cue on

I experience the same thing. Was looking it up to see if others see it. The patterns are always different. They all are made of black and white lines though. Zig zags, circles, radial, diagonal with a small square off to the side, L shape, wavy, diamonds, stair shaped.

Claire
Claire on

Unlike my other synaesthesia which has been with me since childhood (or as long as I can remember), this strange sound/vision experience happened for the first time about five years ago. I was falling asleep when there was a bang, and I saw a black and white flash. Hard to describe - like a black background with a sudden flash of white. It’s happened quite a few times since then. When I was a child, I would experience rolling images of golden sand suddenly covered in a swarm of ants, then flashing back to sand again - this happened every night as I was falling asleep and used to make me almost hyperventilate. Deep breathing helped. I realised recently that most of my life has been spent finding ways to manage some of the strange things my brain does. My husband and friends think I’m crazy when I speak about it. I honestly thought everyone was like this.

Another thing: I get a rush of adrenaline (feels like tingles in my feet) when I see someone else slip or fall - it happens when it’s in real life (eg my child falling) or even when I see a random person fall in a video. Is this weird too?

Camjay69
Camjay69 on

Hi. I’m exactly the same. Checkerboard, zigzags, cubes - always black and white and the weird thing is - always perfectly sized, shape, space, symmetry. I also have exploding head syndrome when I’m falling asleep.

Andy
Andy on

Google “Optical illusion patterns” and look through the images - that’s a pretty good representation of what I see whenever this happens.

Sara
Sara on

Ive been getting this since earlier this year. Normally im in a relaxed state listening to house music. Ive has asmr like effects to classical and epic movie music for years. But this is new, i close my eyes, and can see soft black with glowing complex geometical shapes.

Pdef
Pdef on

This is really interesting, I’ve had this happen to me as well but with a lot of texture, like fur, lace, mud, scribbles in particular which makes me feel uneasy and unable to fall asleep. I also have had any sudden sound trigger what u can only describe as sonar, where I can see the details of my room and furniture outlined in that flash caused by the sound.

Kaleo
Kaleo on

I had this experience as a child as well. Mine were a compact group of wavy lines, sometimes horizontal other times diagonal but always the same grouping. They eould glide back and forth across the room. When The Waves would appear I would always feel extremely calm, almost in a dream like state. They always appeared when I would jump out of my body and go flying (I later discovered that that was called Astral Projection). I was not asleep when this happened and was completely aware of everything around me. Sometime after that happened I would fall asleep. I am glad to find out that I was not alone and that the phenomenon had an actual name. This is the first time I’ve shared this experience with anyone not even my family. Thank you

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated. Links have nofollow. Seriously, spammers, give it a rest.

Please avoid writing anything here unless you're a computer. This is also a trap:

Supports Github-flavored Markdown, including [links](http://foo.com/), *emphasis*, _underline_, `code`, and > blockquotes. Use ```clj on its own line to start an (e.g.) Clojure code block, and ``` to end the block.