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Can grapheme-color synesthesia be induced by hypnosis?
Hazel P Anderson1, Anil K Seth2, Zoltan Dienes1
1School of Psychology, University of Sussex Brighton, UK ; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex Brighton, UK.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|May 16, 2014
Summary
Hypnotic suggestions did not improve performance on a shape detection task, unlike genuine grapheme-color synesthesia. Induced colors were perceived after, not during, shape detection, suggesting hypnotic colors differ from synesthetic ones.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Sensory Perception
Background:
- Grapheme-color synesthesia involves graphemes evoking specific colors.
- Synesthesia presents as projector (spatially coincident) or associator (non-spatial) subtypes.
- The study investigates if hypnosis can induce synesthesia-like experiences ('hypnotic synesthesia').
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if hypnotic color suggestion can create synesthesia-like experiences.
- To assess if "hypnotic synesthesia" aids performance on a visual search task.
- To compare induced hypnotic colors with genuine synesthetic perceptions.
Main Methods:
- Participants underwent a hypnotic suggestion for color perception.
- Performance was evaluated using an embedded figures test (shape detection).
- Accuracy was compared between hypnotic suggestion and control conditions, and across susceptibility levels.
Main Results:
- Hypnotic suggestion did not enhance performance on the embedded figures test.
- No performance benefits were observed regardless of participants' susceptibility to suggestion.
- Accuracy correlated with color intensity and spatial extent in highly suggestible participants, but only after shape detection.
Conclusions:
- Hypnotically induced colors do not appear to aid perceptual grouping for shape detection.
- The experience of hypnotic color is likely post-perceptual, unlike genuine synesthesia.
- Hypnotic colors are not directly comparable to synesthetic experiences.
Keywords:
colour/colorconsciousnessembedded figures testhypnosismental imagerysynaesthesia/synesthesiaMore Related Videos
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