HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Smilek, D. Articles by Merikle, P. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Smilek, D. Articles by Merikle, P. M.

Synaesthetic Photisms Influence Visual Perception

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

When C, a digit–color synaesthete, views black digits, she reports that each digit elicits a highly specific color (a photism), which is experienced as though the color was externally projected onto the digit. We evaluated this claim by assessing whether C's photisms influenced her ability to perceive visually presented digits. C identified and localized target digits presented against backgrounds that were either congruent or incongruent with the color of her photism for the digits. The results showed that C was poorer at identifying and localizing digits on congruent than incongruent trials. Such differences in performance between congruent and incongruent trials were not found with nonsynaesthete control participants. These results suggest that C's colored photisms influence her perception of black digits. We propose a model in which color information influences the perception of digits through reentrant pathways in the visual system.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Beeli, M. Esslen, and L. Jancke Time Course of Neural Activity Correlated with Colored-Hearing Synesthesia Cereb Cortex, February 1, 2008; 18(2): 379 - 385. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Cohen Kadosh, K. Cohen Kadosh, and A. Henik The Neuronal Correlate of Bidirectional Synesthesia: A Combined Event-related Potential and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. J. Cogn. Neurosci., December 1, 2007; 19(12): 2050 - 2059. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Cohen Kadosh, N. Sagiv, D. E. J. Linden, L. C. Robertson, G. Elinger, and A. Henik When Blue is Larger than Red: Colors Influence Numerical Cognition in Synesthesia J. Cogn. Neurosci., November 1, 2005; 17(11): 1766 - 1773. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Palmeri, R. Blake, R. Marois, M. A. Flanery, and W. Whetsell Jr. The perceptual reality of synesthetic colors PNAS, March 19, 2002; 99(6): 4127 - 4131. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]