Sensory Perception: Lessons from Synesthesia: Using Synesthesia to Inform the Understanding of Sensory
Perception |
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Authors: | Joshua Paul Harvey |
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Institution: | Balliol College, Oxford, England |
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Abstract: | Synesthesia, the conscious, idiosyncratic, repeatable, and involuntary sensation
of one sensory modality in response to another, is a condition that has puzzled
both researchers and philosophers for centuries. Much time has been spent
proving the condition’s existence as well as investigating its etiology, but
what can be learned from synesthesia remains a poorly discussed topic. Here,
synaesthesia is presented as a possible answer rather than a question to the
current gaps in our understanding of sensory perception. By first appreciating
the similarities between normal sensory perception and synesthesia, one can use
what is known about synaesthesia, from behavioral and imaging studies, to inform
our understanding of “normal” sensory perception. In particular, in considering
synesthesia, one can better understand how and where the different sensory
modalities interact in the brain, how different sensory modalities can interact
without confusion ― the binding problem ― as well as how sensory perception
develops. |
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Keywords: | synesthesia synaesthesia cross-modal perception sensory perception binding problem Maurer |
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