Acquired auditory-visual synesthesia: A window to early cross-modal sensory interactions
Psychology Research and Behavior Management January 15, 2009 DOI: 10.2147/prbm.s4481 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Argues that acquired and induced auditory-visual synesthesias arise from distinct neural conditions—deafferentation or temporal lobe pathology versus blindfolding or psychedelics—and that early cross-modal interactions between auditory and visual pathways, supported by imaging and neurophysiology, may underlie these phenomena. |
Abstract
Synesthesia is experienced when sensory stimulation of one sensory modality elicits an involuntary sensation in another sensory modality. Auditory-visual synesthesia occurs when auditory stimuli elicit visual sensations. It has developmental, induced and acquired varieties. The acquired variety has been reported in association with deafferentation of the visual system as well as temporal lobe pathology with intact visual pathways. The induced variety has been reported in experimental and post-surgical blindfolding, as well as intake of hallucinogenic or psychedelics. Although in humans there is no known anatomical pathway connecting auditory areas to primary and/or early visual association areas, there is imaging and neurophysiologic evidence to the presence of early cross modal interactions between the auditory and visual sensory pathways. Synesthesia may be a window of opportunity to study these cross modal interactions. Here we review the existing literature in the acquired and induced auditory-visual synesthesias and discuss the possible neural mechanisms.