Synesthesia: When colors count
Is synaesthesia only a conscious phenomenon, or does it reflect processing even at unconscious levels also? A recent study finds that unconscious synaesthetic priming can occur. Daria Knoch et al. Cognitive Brain Research 25 (1), p. 372-374 Abstract A tacitly held assumption in synesthesia research is the unidirectionality of digit–color associations. This notion is based […]
Is synaesthesia only a conscious phenomenon, or does it reflect processing even at unconscious levels also? A recent study finds that unconscious synaesthetic priming can occur.
Daria Knoch et al.
Cognitive Brain Research 25 (1), p. 372-374
Abstract
A tacitly held assumption in synesthesia research is the unidirectionality of digit–color associations. This notion is based on synesthetes’ report that digits evoke a color percept, but colors do not elicit any numerical impression. In a random color generation task, we found evidence for an implicit co-activation of digits by colors, a finding that constrains neurological theories concerning cross-modal associations in general and synesthesia in particular.
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