Multisensory integration and cross-modal learning in synaesthesia: A unifying model

Newell, Fiona N.; Mitchell, Kevin J.

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.07.026

Cited by 33 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…In the case of AB, direct comparison of colours for musical notes before and after the most severe set of events (recorded in 2012 and 2015; Figure 2a) shows a number of changes but an overall high level of consistency (0.69). These findings provide strong evidence that the neural substrates of synaesthetic associations, once they are consolidated in what is presumably an early critical period (Newell & Mitchell, 2015), remain "hard--wired" thereafter and can persist over very long periods even under conditions that alter or completely suppress the conscious synaesthetic experience itself. on three successive occasions using a colour--picker.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Synaesthesia lost and found: Two cases of person- and music-colour synaesthesia

Farina

Mitchell

Roche

2016

Preprint

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Synaesthesia is a developmental condition involving cross--communication between sensory modalities or substreams whereby an inducer (e.g. a sound) automatically evokes a concurrent percept in another modality (e.g. a colour). Whether this condition arises due to atypical structural connectivity (e.g., between normally unconnected cortical areas) or altered neurochemistry remains a central question. We report the exceptional cases of two synaesthetes -subjects AB and CD -both of whom experience coloured auras around individuals, as well as coloured perceptions in response to music. Both subjects have, in recent years, suffered a complete loss or reduction of their synaesthetic experiences, one (AB) through successive head traumas, including a lightning strike, followed by a number of medications, and the other (CD) while taking anxiolytic medications. Using semi--structured interviews and data from the Synaesthesia Battery and a colourpicker task, we characterise the phenomenological characteristics of their pre--loss synaesthesia, as well as the subsequent restoration of each subject's synaesthetic experiences (in the months post-trauma for AB, and after cessation of medication for CD). Even after years of suppression, the patterns of associations were highly consistent with those experienced pre--injury. The phenomenological experience of synaesthesia can, thus, like most conscious experiences, be modulated by pharmacologically diverse medications or head injury. However, the underlying neural substrates mediating specific synaesthetic pairings appear remarkably "hard--wired" and can persist over very long periods even under conditions that alter or completely suppress the conscious synaesthetic experience itself.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Synaesthesia lost and found: Two cases of person- and music-colour synaesthesia

Farina

Mitchell

Roche

2016

Preprint

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“…a) shows a number of changes but an overall high level of consistency (0.69). These findings provide strong evidence that the neural substrates of synaesthetic associations, once they are consolidated in what is presumably an early critical period (Newell & Mitchell, ), remain ‘hard‐wired’ thereafter and can persist over very long periods even under conditions that alter or completely suppress the conscious synaesthetic experience itself.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Hubbard (2007) describes four neural models of the synaesthetic experience which attribute the phenomenon to cross-activation between adjacent cortical regions (due to decreased pruning of prenatal pathways), disinhibited long-range feedback in multisensory areas, feedback in re-entrant processing circuits in visual areas and beyond, and/or overactivation of parietally driven binding mechanisms (hyperbinding). Bargary & Mitchell (2008) also argue for structural differences as a parsimonious explanation, which can be reconciled with a role for learning in the emergence of specific associations (Newell & Mitchell (2016)). Neuroimaging studies have not distinguished between these models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synaesthesia lost and found: two cases of person‐ and music‐colour synaesthesia

Farina

Mitchell

Roche

2017

Eur J of Neuroscience

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Synaesthesia is a developmental condition involving cross-communication between sensory modalities or substreams whereby an inducer (e.g. a sound) automatically evokes a concurrent percept in another modality (e.g. a colour). Whether this condition arises due to atypical structural connectivity (e.g., between normally unconnected cortical areas) or altered neurochemistry remains a central question. We report the exceptional cases of two synaesthetes - subjects AB and CD - both of whom experience coloured auras around individuals, as well as coloured perceptions in response to music. Both subjects have, in recent years, suffered a complete loss or reduction of their synaesthetic experiences, one (AB) through successive head traumas, including a lightning strike, followed by a number of medications, and the other (CD) while taking anxiolytic medications. Using semi-structured interviews and data from the Synaesthesia Battery and a colourpicker task, we characterize the phenomenological characteristics of their pre-loss synaesthesia, as well as the subsequent restoration of each subject's synaesthetic experiences (in the months post-trauma for AB, and after cessation of medication for CD). Even after years of suppression, the patterns of associations were highly consistent with those experienced pre-injury. The phenomenological experience of synaesthesia can, thus, like most conscious experiences, be modulated by pharmacologically diverse medications or head injury. However, the underlying neural substrates mediating specific synaesthetic pairings appear remarkably 'hard-wired' and can persist over very long periods even under conditions that alter or completely suppress the conscious synaesthetic experience itself.

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“…We conclude our issue with the contribution from Newell and Mitchell (2016). The authors propose a model for the origin of synaesthetic associations that reconciles connectivity and innate ability models of synaesthesia with the influence of learning and crossmodal statistical regularities in the world around us.…”

Section: The Issuementioning

confidence: 85%