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Why Saturday could be both green and red in synesthesia
Michele Miozzo1,2, Bruno Laeng3
1Department of Psychology, The New School, 80 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10011, USA. mm1150@columbia.edu.
Cognitive Processing
|June 17, 2016
Summary
Two synesthetes experienced distinct colors for the same concepts, revealing that word segments and whole words, processed via orthography or phonology, underlie these unique synesthetic experiences.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Synesthesia is a neurological condition where sensory pathways cross, leading to experiences like seeing colors when hearing sounds.
- Certain words can elicit multiple synesthetic colors, a phenomenon that is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive mechanisms behind distinct synesthetic colors experienced by individuals for specific concepts.
- To explore how word segmentation, whole-word processing, orthography, and phonology contribute to these varied synesthetic experiences.
Main Methods:
- Utilized auditory priming and Visual Color Stroop tasks with two synesthetes.
- Analyzed responses to closed sets of concepts including digits, weekdays, and months.
Main Results:
- Distinct synesthetic colors were associated with specific concepts (e.g., Saturday).
- Processing of word segments and whole words was implicated in generating these colors.
- Mechanisms differed between participants, involving either orthography (written words) or phonology (spoken words).
- Word representations varied regarding the encoding of serial positions.
Conclusions:
- Clarified cognitive mechanisms underlying distinct synesthetic colors.
- Provided insights into the neurocognitive basis of a common form of synesthesia.
- Highlighted individual differences in processing written and spoken words in synesthesia.
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