Research objectives

In synaesthesia one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, such as when hearing a sound produces photisms, i.e. mental percepts of colors. In the past, the idiosyncrasy of this phenomenon, as well as the natural mistrust of scientists towards the subjective, consigned synaesthesia to the periphery of scientific interest. However, the landscape has changed radically in the last two decades. The labor of many researchers, inside as well as outside of cognitive neuroscience, has transformed synaesthesia into a scientific reality whose existence can be demonstrated and studied empirically. The present paper summarizes and reflects on our current knowledge concerning synaesthesia in all its aspects (cognition, behavior, neurology, genetics and demographics).

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