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Number synaesthesia: when hearing "four plus five" looks like gold
Ashok S Jansari1, Mary Jane Spiller, Steven Redfern
1School of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK. a.jansari@uel.ac.uk
Summary
This study investigated number-colour synaesthesia, finding that synaesthetic responses to numbers occur in both visual and auditory domains. The results highlight the conceptual nature of synaesthesia and its diverse manifestations across individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Lexical-colour synaesthesia is well-researched, but number-colour synaesthesia is less understood.
- The inherent ordinality of numbers suggests a high prevalence of number-colour synaesthesia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate number-colour synaesthesia using a modified Stroop-like paradigm.
- To explore whether number-processing synaesthesia extends to the auditory domain.
- To examine the consistency and heterogeneity of number-colour synaesthesia.
Main Methods:
- Recruited three highly consistent synaesthetes.
- Utilized a "2 plus 5 equals yellow" paradigm with visual and auditory stimuli.
- Compared synaesthetes' responses to age-matched controls.
Main Results:
- Synaesthetes showed significant congruency effects in both visual and auditory conditions.
- Findings suggest synaesthesia can operate at a conceptual level, independent of sensory experience.
- Observed variable patterns of visual versus auditory congruency effects, indicating synaesthesia's heterogeneity.
Conclusions:
- Number-colour synaesthesia is a valid phenomenon occurring conceptually.
- The study supports the heterogeneity of synaesthesia, with individual differences in sensory modality effects.
- Findings contribute to neurocognitive models of synaesthesia, identifying areas for future research.