Synesthesia is associated with distinctive patterns in dream content
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Dream reports offer insight into how individual differences shape conscious experience in the absence of external input or task demands. This study investigates whether synesthesia—a condition characterized by involuntary cross-modal associations—is associated with distinct patterns in dream content, reflecting underlying differences in cognitive architecture. We analyzed 2,337 dream reports from Reddit, comparing 1,169 reports from self-identified synesthetes with 1,168 matched controls. Semantic embedding models and logistic regression achieved modest classification performance, indicating group-level differences in language use. Topic modeling revealed five themes—digital distraction, interpersonal regret, diverse worlds, non-human entities, and violent conflict—that were significantly more prevalent in synesthete dreams. These results suggest that trait-level cognitive organization, as expressed in synesthetic perception, extends across states of consciousness and shapes the content of spontaneous experience. The findings support theoretical accounts of consciousness as continuous with waking cognition and demonstrate how stable neurocognitive traits manifest in unstructured, self-generated thought.
Source: Consciousness and Cognition
Authors: Kyle Napierkowski, Emily Cook
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,210
OpenAlex ID: W4416117700