Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia
Grapheme-color synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which letters and numbers (graphemes) consistently evoke particular colors (e.g. A may be experienced as red). These sensations are thought to arise through the cross-activation of grapheme processing regions in the fusiform gyrus and color...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-10-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00717/full |
| _version_ | 1819087897956974592 |
|---|---|
| author | David eBrang Michael eGhiam Vilayanur S Ramachandran |
| author_facet | David eBrang Michael eGhiam Vilayanur S Ramachandran |
| author_sort | David eBrang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Grapheme-color synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which letters and numbers (graphemes) consistently evoke particular colors (e.g. A may be experienced as red). These sensations are thought to arise through the cross-activation of grapheme processing regions in the fusiform gyrus and color area V4, supported by anatomical and functional imaging. However, the developmental onset of grapheme-color synesthesia remains elusive as research in this area has largely relied on self-report of these experiences in children. One possible account suggests that synesthesia is present at or near birth and initially binds basic shapes and forms to colors, which are later refined to grapheme-color associations through experience. Consistent with this view, studies show that similarly shaped letters and numbers tend to elicit similar colors in synesthesia and that some synesthetes consciously associate basic shapes with colors; research additionally suggests that synesthetic colors can emerge for newly learned characters with repeated presentation. This model further predicts that the initial shape-color correspondences in synesthesia may persist as implicit associations, driving the acquisition of colors for novel characters. To examine the presence of latent color associations for novel characters, synesthetes and controls were trained on pre-defined associations between colors and complex shapes, on the assumption that the prescribed shape-color correspondences would on average differ from implicit synesthetic associations. Results revealed synesthetes were less accurate than controls to learn novel shape-color associations, consistent with our suggestion that implicit form-color associations conflicted with the learned pairings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:43:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fca6b19c943446438510f8a88a7c6ee1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T21:43:27Z |
| publishDate | 2013-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-fca6b19c943446438510f8a88a7c6ee12022-12-21T18:49:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612013-10-01710.3389/fnhum.2013.0071764320Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesiaDavid eBrang0Michael eGhiam1Vilayanur S Ramachandran2Northwestern UniversityUniversity of California San DiegoUniversity of California San DiegoGrapheme-color synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which letters and numbers (graphemes) consistently evoke particular colors (e.g. A may be experienced as red). These sensations are thought to arise through the cross-activation of grapheme processing regions in the fusiform gyrus and color area V4, supported by anatomical and functional imaging. However, the developmental onset of grapheme-color synesthesia remains elusive as research in this area has largely relied on self-report of these experiences in children. One possible account suggests that synesthesia is present at or near birth and initially binds basic shapes and forms to colors, which are later refined to grapheme-color associations through experience. Consistent with this view, studies show that similarly shaped letters and numbers tend to elicit similar colors in synesthesia and that some synesthetes consciously associate basic shapes with colors; research additionally suggests that synesthetic colors can emerge for newly learned characters with repeated presentation. This model further predicts that the initial shape-color correspondences in synesthesia may persist as implicit associations, driving the acquisition of colors for novel characters. To examine the presence of latent color associations for novel characters, synesthetes and controls were trained on pre-defined associations between colors and complex shapes, on the assumption that the prescribed shape-color correspondences would on average differ from implicit synesthetic associations. Results revealed synesthetes were less accurate than controls to learn novel shape-color associations, consistent with our suggestion that implicit form-color associations conflicted with the learned pairings.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00717/fullLanguageLearningsynaesthesiasynesthesiagrapheme |
| spellingShingle | David eBrang Michael eGhiam Vilayanur S Ramachandran Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Language Learning synaesthesia synesthesia grapheme |
| title | Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia |
| title_full | Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia |
| title_fullStr | Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia |
| title_short | Impaired acquisition of novel grapheme-color correspondences in synesthesia |
| title_sort | impaired acquisition of novel grapheme color correspondences in synesthesia |
| topic | Language Learning synaesthesia synesthesia grapheme |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00717/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidebrang impairedacquisitionofnovelgraphemecolorcorrespondencesinsynesthesia AT michaeleghiam impairedacquisitionofnovelgraphemecolorcorrespondencesinsynesthesia AT vilayanursramachandran impairedacquisitionofnovelgraphemecolorcorrespondencesinsynesthesia |