Music-colour synaesthesia: Concept, context and qualia.

Music-colour synaesthesia, the experience of seeing colours when hearing music, may not be fully explained by the traditional theories of hyperconnectivity or disinhibited feedback that treat it as a purely perceptual phenomenon. A review of eight neuroimaging studies indicates that these explanations cannot be directly applied to music-colour synaesthesia. The concept of 'ideaesthesia' and the role of conceptual and semantic triggers challenge the idea of a single underlying mechanism, arguing against a purely sensory-to-sensory explanation. This form of synaesthesia also poses challenges for established philosophical theories, and its position is considered within the broader context of musical qualia.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This review provides a commentary on coloured-hearing arising on hearing music: music-colour synaesthesia. Although traditionally explained by the hyperconnectivity theory (Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001a) and the disinhibited feedback theory (Grossenbacher & Lovelace, 2001) as a purely perceptual phenomenon, the review of eight coloured-hearing neuroimaging studies shows that it may not be assumed that these explanations are directly translatable to music-colour synaesthesia. The concept of 'ideaesthesia' (Nikolić, 2009) and the role of conceptual and semantic inducers challenge the likelihood of a single mechanism underlying the cause of synaesthesia and argue for a move away from a purely sensory to sensory explanation. Finally, music-colour synaesthesia forms a challenge for established philosophical theories and the position of synaesthesia is considered within the larger context of musical qualia.