Synaesthesia

Baron‐Cohen, Simon; Harrison, J. M.

doi:10.1002/0470018860.s00295

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The group with sleep disorder scored higher on the olfactory and gustatory subscales, which is in line with the reported side effects of sleep medications such as zopiclone (Ohayon, 2000 ). Finally, individuals with synaesthesia scored significantly higher on all modality subscales (especially visual) consistent with a blurring of sensory function (Baron-Cohen and Harrison, 1997 ) with a predominance of visual experiences (Novich et al, 2011 ; Niccolai et al, 2012 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

The Structure and Measurement of Unusual Sensory Experiences in Different Modalities: The Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ)

et al. 2017

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Hallucinations and other unusual sensory experiences (USE) can occur in all modalities in the general population. Yet, the existing literature is dominated by investigations into auditory hallucinations (“voices”), while other modalities remain under-researched. Furthermore, there is a paucity of measures which can systematically assess different modalities, which limits our ability to detect individual and group differences across modalities. The current study explored such differences using a new scale, the Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ). The MUSEQ is a 43-item self-report measure which assesses USE in six modalities: auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, bodily sensations, and sensed presence. Scale development and validation involved a total of 1,300 participants, which included: 513 students and community members for initial development, 32 individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder for validation, 659 students for factor replication, and 96 students for test-retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a correlated-factors model and bifactor model yielded acceptable model fit, while a unidimensional model fitted poorly. These findings were confirmed in the replication sample. Results showed contributions from a general common factor, as well as modality-specific factors. The latter accounted for less variance than the general factor, but could still detect theoretically meaningful group differences. The MUSEQ showed good reliability, construct validity, and could discriminate non-clinical and clinical groups. The MUSEQ offers a reliable means of measuring hallucinations and other USE in six different modalities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

The Structure and Measurement of Unusual Sensory Experiences in Different Modalities: The Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ)

et al. 2017

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“…By contrast, for many modern researchers, the questionable theoretical relevance of the few recently discovered instances and the fact that synesthesia itself is uncommon, means these case studies are viewed as anomalies among the anomalous, (Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001b; Baron-Cohen & Harrison, 2005; Marks & Odgaard, 2005; Ward & Mattingly, 2006). The data presented here provide clear evidence that synesthetic grapheme-color correspondences can be learned from external correspondences, and that although such cases may be exceptional, they should be accounted for in any theory of synesthesia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning, Memory, and Synesthesia

Witthoft

Winawer

2013

Psychol Sci

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People with color-grapheme synesthesia experience color when viewing written letters or numerals, usually with a particular color evoked by each grapheme. Here we report on 11 color-grapheme synesthetes with startlingly similar color-grapheme pairings traceable to childhood toys containing colored letters. These data are the first and only to show learned synesthesia of this kind in a group larger than a single case. While some researchers have focused on genetic and perceptual aspects of synesthesia, these results indicate that a complete explanation of synesthesia must also incorporate a central role for learning and memory. We argue that these two positions can be reconciled by thinking of synesthesia as the automatic retrieval of highly specific mnemonic associations, where perceptual contents are brought to mind, akin to mental imagery or the perceptual reinstatement effects found in the memory literature.

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“…The condition appears to have a genetic basis and runs in families (e.g., Asher et al, 2009; Brang and Ramachandran, 2011). For synaesthetes, the presentation of a stimulus in a certain modality, or rather its recognition, elicits an additional atypical sensory concurrent in another unstimulated sensory channel (Cytowic, 1989/2002; Baron-Cohen and Harrison, 1997; Day, 2005; Cytowic and Eagleman, 2009). Synaesthetes have been shown to exhibit significantly different performance, as a group, in a series of behavioral tests, such as the speeded congruency test presented by Eagleman et al (2007), designed to capture the involuntary and robust elicitation of conscious concurrents by specific inducers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training, hypnosis, and drugs: artificial synaesthesia, or artificial paradises?

Deroy

Spence

2013

Front. Psychol.

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The last few years have seen the publication of a number of studies by researchers claiming to have induced “synaesthesia,” “pseudo-synaesthesia,” or “synaesthesia-like” phenomena in non-synaesthetic participants. Although the intention of these studies has been to try and shed light on the way in which synaesthesia might have been acquired in developmental synaesthestes, we argue that they may only have documented a phenomenon that has elsewhere been accounted for in terms of the acquisition of sensory associations and is not evidently linked to synaesthesia. As synaesthesia remains largely defined in terms of the involuntary elicitation of conscious concurrents, we suggest that the theoretical rapprochement with synaesthesia (in any of its guises) is unnecessary, and potentially distracting. It might therefore, be less confusing if researchers were to avoid referring to synaesthesia when characterizing cases that lack robust evidence of a conscious manifestation. Even in the case of those other conditions for which conscious experiences are better evidenced, when training has been occurred during hypnotic suggestion, or when it has been combined with drugs, we argue that not every conscious manifestation should necessarily be counted as synaesthetic. Finally, we stress that cases of associative learning are unlikely to shed light on two highly specific characteristic of the majority of cases of developmental synaesthesia in terms of learning patterns: First, their resistance to change through exposure once the synaesthetic repertoire has been fixed; Second, the transfer of conditioned responses between concurrents and inducers after training. We conclude by questioning whether, in adulthood, it is ever possible to acquire the kind of synaesthesia that is typically documented in the developmental form of the condition. The available evidence instead seems to point to there being a critical period for the development of synaesthesia, probably only in those with a genetic predisposition to develop the condition.

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Synaesthesia

Abstract: Synaesthesia is experienced when stimulation of one sensory modality gives rise to a perception in a second modality, without that second modality having received any direct stimulation.

Cited by 11 publications

References 27 publications

The Structure and Measurement of Unusual Sensory Experiences in Different Modalities: The Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ)

The Structure and Measurement of Unusual Sensory Experiences in Different Modalities: The Multi-Modality Unusual Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (MUSEQ)

Learning, Memory, and Synesthesia

Training, hypnosis, and drugs: artificial synaesthesia, or artificial paradises?

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