Stimuli generating additional unusual experiences are termed ‘inducers’, whereas internally produced synesthetic percepts are termed ‘concurrents’. An illustrative presentation of the condition would be that of a given person in whom hearing the sound of a trumpet consistently elicits the vision of brightly colored triangles dancing in front of his eyes, in association with a sensation of pressure on his arms, letting him feel uncomfortable to sit still. In this condition, a particular stimulation in a given sensory modality (e.g., touch) or cognitive process (e.g., computing) automatically triggers additional experiences in one or several other unstimulated domains (e.g., vision, emotion). Synesthesia is an extraordinary perceptual phenomenon, in which the world is experienced in unusual ways. Results of the recent investigations on synesthesia offered a remarkable insight into the mechanisms of perception, emotion and consciousness, and deserve attention both from neuroscientists and from clinicians. Artworks of affected painters are most illustrative of the nature of synesthetic experiences. Cerebral exploration using structural and functional imaging has demonstrated distinct patterns in cortical activation and brain connectivity for controls and synesthetes. Acquired forms of synesthesia commonly arise from drug ingestion or neurological disorders, including thalamic lesions and sensory deprivation (e.g., blindness). Developmental forms predispose to changes in primary sensory processing and cognitive functions, usually with better performances in certain aspects and worse in others, and to heightened creativity. Synesthesia is commonly classified as developmental and acquired. This review focuses on the recent studies regarding variants of color synesthesia, the commonest form of the condition. It recently generated a considerable interest among neuroscientists, but its clinical significance apparently remains underevaluated.
The condition prompted philosophical debates on the nature of perception and impacted the course of art history. Emotional reactions are commonly associated.
Synesthesia is an extraordinary perceptual phenomenon, in which individuals experience unusual percepts elicited by the activation of an unrelated sensory modality or by a cognitive process.
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