Sensory Perception: Lessons from Synesthesia: Using Synesthesia to Inform the Understanding of Sensory Perception

Synesthesia, the conscious, idiosyncratic, repeatable, and involuntary sensationof one sensory modality in response to another, is a condition that has puzzledboth researchers and philosophers for centuries. Much time has been spentproving the condition’s existence as well as investigating its etiology, butwhat can be learned from synesthesia remains a poorly discussed topic. Here,synaesthesia is presented as a possible answer rather than a question to thecurrent gaps in our understanding of sensory perception. By first appreciatingthe similarities between normal sensory perception and synesthesia, one can usewhat is known about synaesthesia, from behavioral and imaging studies, to informour understanding of “normal” sensory perception. In particular, in consideringsynesthesia, one can better understand how and where the different sensorymodalities interact in the brain, how different sensory modalities can interactwithout confusion ― the binding problem ― as well as how sensory perceptiondevelops.