Why is the synesthete's “A” red? Using a five-language dataset to disentangle the effects of shape, sound, semantics, and ordinality on inducer–concurrent relationships in grapheme-color synesthesia

Root, Nicholas B.; Rouw, Romke; Asano, Michiko; Kim, Chai-Youn; Melero, Helena; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko; Ramachandran, Vilayanur S.

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.12.003

Cited by 28 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…We analysed grapheme-colour associations in a combination of data from synaesthetes used in a previous study [42] and newly collected data. All subjects had completed the Eagleman Synesthesia Battery (synaesthete.org), a standardized battery for synaesthesia [43], and qualified as synaesthetes using the test-retest consistency threshold that maximizes sensitivity and specificity, derived in Rothen et al [44]: average Euclidean distance in the CIELuv perceptual colour space of test-retest associations less than 135 (smaller numbers indicate more consistent associations).…”

Section: (I) Synaesthetesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Echoes from the past: synaesthetic colour associations reflect childhood gender stereotypes

Root

Dobkins

Ramachandran

et al. 2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Grapheme–colour synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which linguistic symbols evoke consistent colour sensations. Synaesthesia is believed to be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, but how these factors interact to create specific associations in specific individuals is poorly understood. In this paper, we show that a grapheme–colour association in adult synaesthetes can be traced to a particular environmental effect at a particular moment in childhood. We propose a model in which specific grapheme–colour associations are ‘locked in’ during development in children predisposed to become synaesthetes, whereas grapheme–colour associations remain flexible in non-synaesthetes. We exploit Western gender–colour stereotypes to test our model: we found that young girls in general tend to associate their first initial with the colour pink. Consistent with our model, adult female synaesthetes are influenced by their childhood environment: they associate their first initial with pink. Adult female non-synaesthetes do not show this bias. Instead, in our study, non-synaesthetes tended to associate their first initial with their current favourite colour. The results thus support the ‘locking in’ model of synaesthesia, suggesting that synaesthetic associations can be used as a ‘time capsule’, revealing childhood influences on adult linguistic associations. Grapheme–colour synaesthesia may thus offer an extraordinary opportunity to study linguistic development. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Bridging senses: novel insights from synaesthesia’.

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Section: (I) Synaesthetesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Echoes from the past: synaesthetic colour associations reflect childhood gender stereotypes

Root

Dobkins

Ramachandran

et al. 2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

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“…Unfortunately, he died too young to publish on it. A recent study with a five-language data set confirmed the necessity to consider cross-linguistic comparisons in grapheme-color synesthesia (Root et al 2018).…”

Section: The First International Symposium On Synesthesia (Paris 1889mentioning

confidence: 90%

The “golden age” of synesthesia inquiry in the late nineteenth century (1876–1895)

Jewanski

Simner

Day

et al. 2019

Journal of the History of the Neurosciences

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Synesthesia is a rare neurological trait that causes unusual, often crosssensory, experiences (e.g., seeing colors when listening to music). This article traces the history of synesthesia in the period 1876 to 1895. In this period, there was considerable debate over the nature of synesthesia, its causes, and how it should be named. The issue also attracted the leading thinkers of the time and, within a few years, the number of reported cases of synesthesia jumped from around ten to more than 100. For this reason, this period can be regarded as the "golden age" for synesthesia research in the nineteenth century. In this time, scientists debated whether synesthesia was a form of pathology or an alternative manifestation of intelligence. The differing roles of heredity and environment were contested, and there were several explanations proposed as to its neural basis. These enquiries went to the heart of the debate as to whether synesthetic experiences are special in any way or, instead, a more vivid manifestation of a more general capacity for forming associations.

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“…Finally, there are some limitations in our study. First, only 11 focal colours were used, although some relevant studies also used 11 colours only (e.g., Rich et al, 2005;Simner et al, 2005;Wrembel, 2009;Root et al, 2018). A wider choice of colour would allow a more comprehensive investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-modal association between vowels and colours: A cross-linguistic perspective

Mok

et al. 2019

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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Previous studies showed similar mappings between sounds and colours for synaesthetes and nonsynaesthetes alike, and proposed that common mechanisms underlie such cross-modal association. The findings between vowels and colours, and between pitch and lightness, were investigated separately, and it was also unknown how language background would influence such association. The present study investigated the cross-modal association between sounds (vowels and pitch) and colours in a tone language using three groups of non-synaesthetes: Cantonese (native), Mandarin (foreign, tonal), and English (foreign, non-tonal). Strong associations were found between /a/ and red, /i/ with light colours, and /u/ with dark colours, and a robust pitch effect with a high tone eliciting lighter colours than a low tone in general. The pitch effect is stronger than the vowel associations. Significant differences among the three language groups in colour choices of other vowels and the strength of association were found, which demonstrate the language-specificity of these associations. The findings support the notion that synaesthesia is a general phenomenon, which can be influenced by linguistic factors.

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Why is the synesthete's “A” red? Using a five-language dataset to disentangle the effects of shape, sound, semantics, and ordinality on inducer–concurrent relationships in grapheme-color synesthesia

Cited by 28 publications

References 57 publications

Echoes from the past: synaesthetic colour associations reflect childhood gender stereotypes

Echoes from the past: synaesthetic colour associations reflect childhood gender stereotypes

The “golden age” of synesthesia inquiry in the late nineteenth century (1876–1895)

Cross-modal association between vowels and colours: A cross-linguistic perspective

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