place: “the yellow villa”

peter sabroesgade 12

We studied grapheme-color synesthetes, who experience particular colors while viewing particular graphemes (e.g. the A is bright red). While it is clear that synesthesia is a genuine sensory phenomenon, no consensus exists on the explanation of synesthetic experiences. In this presentation we address two issues. The first is whether anatomical brain differences exist between synesthetes as compared with non-synesthetes. By means of 'diffusion tensor imaging' we found differences in diffusion anisotropy in synesthetes as compared with non-synesthetes. The increased anisotropic diffusion indicated more coherent white matter structures at specific locations in the brain. The second issue is the role of individual differences in grapheme-color synesthesia. We looked at the distinction between 'projector' versus 'associator' synesthesia (the synesthetic color is located 'in the outside world' or 'inside the mind'), and the distinction between 'perceptual' versus 'conceptual' synesthesia (what evokes the synesthetic color; seeing or thinking about a grapheme). We found both behavioral (e.g. with a questionnaire) and neurological evidence for the first distinction, but not for the second distinction. Implications of these results for understanding (the neurological basis of) individual differences in grapheme-color synesthesia are discussed.

time: 11 am

date: february 12th

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