Synaesthesia and Deafening Lights – #365papers – 2017 – 25

#365papers for January 25, 2017

Fassnidge, Marcotti and Freeman, 2017, A deafening flash! Visual interference of auditory signal detection: Consciousness and Cognition, v. 49, p. 15-24.

What’s it about?

This paper explores the nature of the form of synaesthesia where a person perceives sounds when presented with visual stimuli. Furthermore, it considers whether there is an adaptive advantage to this kind of synaesthesia.

Why does it matter?

By being able to perceive visual stimuli as sounds, it allows the synaesthete to utilize the parts of the brain needed for hearing to understand and deal with repetitious visual stimuli. The part of the brain that deals with hearing is better at distinguishing timing which could be advantageous.

Why did I read this?

I have synaesthesia. In fact, I experience the very form of synaesthesia that is described in this paper. So naturally, I wanted to read this to better understand what is going on in my head.