New research shows consistency in synaesthetic experiences

A quirky psychological phenomenon known as “grapheme-color synaesthesia” describes individuals who experience vivid colors whenever they see, hear, or think of ordinary letters and digits. A hallmark of synaesthesia is that individuals seem to be idiosyncratic in their experiences. That is, most synesthaetes will consistently see the same colors accompanied with specific graphemes, but few of these experiences appear to be shared with other synesthetes.

But new research appearing in the April issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that commonalities do indeed exists across synesthetes. I

n their own study of 70 synesthetes, and a reanalysis of 19 more in previously published data, psychologists Julia Simner, of the University of Edinburgh and Jamie Ward of the University of Sussex have found that synesthetes share certain grapheme-color combinations (for example, the letter ‘a’ is frequently associated with seeing the color red).

Interestingly, they found that the particular pairings are determined by how frequently graphemes and the colour terms are used is used in language: common letters (e.g., “a”) pair with common colour terms (e.g., ‘red’) and uncommon letters (e.g., ‘v’) pair with uncommon colour terms (e.g., ‘purple’). This shows that perceptual synaesthetic experiences are influenced by environmental learning.

They then made an interesting discovery about all people. Colleagues had reported that that the frequency of graphemes influenced the saturation of the colour, but Simner and Ward discovered the root of this effect: that colors we speak about most often (i.e., those with the highest linguistic frequency) are the least saturated (e.g., black, white).

Although these findings may help explain common features of synaesthesia, the precise relationship remains unclear, according to the authors. However, the current study aligns with past research suggesting “that different measures of such associations converge to illustrate a nonarbitrary relationship for all people between color names and color space.”

Source: Association for Psychological Science

Related stories:

World's first transplant of two full arms: German team (Update)
A German medical team said Friday it had performed what it called the world's first transplant of two full arms, on a farmer who had lost both his limbs in an accident.
Where in the world
Ever come out of a London Underground station and not known where you were? Then you spot a familiar landmark like the Tower of London and suddenly you have your bearings?
How to imbue products with symbolic meaning
Many people pay silly money to wear a particular logo or a designer brand. Of course, a designer outfit doesn't keep you any warmer or dryer than an unbranded one, but functionality is only part of the story. Designer products say something about you – you are a trendy, sexy or sophisticated person. Brands help us to express who we think we are and who we want to be.
Seeing colors -- New study sheds light on sensory system quirk
In the psychological phenomenon known as “synesthesia,” individuals’ sensory systems are a bit more intertwined than usual. Some people, for example, report seeing colors when musical notes are played.
Colour purple rules the mailbox
Received any purple-coloured mail recently? Chances are you will. Massey Marketing researchers have found that purple has a previously unrecognized appeal – at least when it comes to mail surveys.
Dinner on Mars: How to cook martian bread
'Martian bread and green tomato jam', 'Spirulina gnocchis' and 'Potato and tomato mille-feuilles' are three delicious recipes that two French companies have created for ESA and future space explorers to Mars and other planets.
The challenge for the chefs was to offer astronauts well-flavoured food, made with only a few ingredients that could be grown on Mars. The result was 11 tasty recipes that could be used on future ESA long-duration space missions. ADF – Alain Ducasse Formation and GEM are the two French companies that produced the recipes, and their mutual experience in creating new products and ‘haute cuisine’ have led to excellent results.
Postmenopausal women taking anastrozole as a chemopreventive treatment do not have impaired cognitive performance
New results of a sub-study carried out as part of a worldwide breast cancer prevention study (IBIS-II) show that after two years of taking the aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole, postmenopausal women at high risk of breast cancer do not have impaired cognitive performance.
Defibrillators save lives, don't diminish quality of life
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce the risk of death from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among patients with heart failure, and they do so without significantly altering a person's quality of life, say researchers from Duke University Medical Center.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news