Induced cross-modal synaesthetic experience without abnormal neuronal connections
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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Training Synesthetic Letter-color Associations by Reading in Color
Published on: February 20, 2014
Roi Cohen Kadosh1, Avishai Henik, Andres Catena
1Department of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom. r.cohenkadosh@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Are the kinds of abnormal cross-modal interactions seen in synaesthesia or following brain damage due to hyperconnectivity between or within brain areas, or are they a result of lack of inhibition? This question is highly contested. Here we show that posthypnotic suggestion induces abnormal cross-modal experience similar to that observed in congenital grapheme-color synaesthesia. Given the short time frame of the experiment, it is unlikely that new cortical connections were established, so we conclude that synaesthesia can result from disinhibition between brain areas.
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