From multisensory integration to synaesthesia: a boundary-preserving continuum and research framework.
Kaiyu Qiu, Zixiu Jiang, Ke Jiang, Huilin Qiu
Frontiers in Psychology 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1893904 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Neuroplasticity |
| Keywords | 4e cognition Cross-modal correspondence Education Multisensory integration Sensory evolution Symbolic learning Synaesthesia |
| Key points | Proposes a boundary-preserving conceptual review that uses the evolutionary history of sensing as a meta-theoretical platform for dialogue among competing definitions of synaesthesia. Argues that multisensory integration and cross-modal correspondence provide shared cross-modal resources, whereas synaesthesia requires stricter evidence of individual consistency, automaticity, phenomenological vividness, durability, and behavioral interference, and reconstructs the continuum as a heuristic framework rather than a developmental ladder. |
Abstract
Synaesthesia is commonly defined as an involuntary and consistent phenomenon in which stimulation in one sensory or cognitive domain elicits an additional experience in another domain. Yet definitions derived from perceptual psychology, neuroscience, aesthetics, cultural anthropology, and artistic practice often speak past one another. This article proposes a boundary-preserving conceptual review that uses the evolutionary history of sensing as a meta-theoretical platform for dialogue among these definitions. It makes four contributions. First, it clarifies the boundaries among congenital or developmental synaesthesia, acquired or trained synaesthesia, synaesthesia-like associations, cross-modal correspondences, multisensory integration, and cultural or metaphorical synaesthesia. Second, it argues that multisensory integration and cross-modal correspondence provide shared cross-modal resources, whereas synaesthesia requires stricter evidence of individual consistency, automaticity, phenomenological vividness, durability, and behavioral interference. Third, it reconstructs the continuum as a heuristic framework rather than a developmental ladder, thereby preserving diagnostic boundaries while enabling communication across competing definitions. Fourth, it explores a dialogue space between synaesthetic artists and psychologists of perception, with implications for scientific research, education, arts-based learning, and cultural psychology.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on neuroplasticity, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Dendrite-Focused Framework for Understanding the Actions of Ketamine and Psychedelics | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Does Psychedelic Therapy Have a Transdiagnostic Action and Prophylactic Potential? | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| A complex systems perspective on psychedelic brain action. | 2023 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Critical Period Plasticity as a Framework for Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics and entactogens. | 2023 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 5
- The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition Oxford University Press eBooks September 13, 2018
- Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science March 1, 2004
- The induction of synaesthesia with chemical agents: a systematic review Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Coordinated neural, behavioral, and phenomenological changes in perceptual plasticity through overtraining of synesthetic associations. Neuropsychologia March 2018
- Synesthesia, sensory-motor contingency, and semantic emulation: how swimming style-color synesthesia challenges the traditional view of synesthesia. Frontiers in Psychology August 22, 2012