Synaesthesia: A union of the senses
Poster Presentation

Kylie J. Barnett
Department of Psychology, TCIN, Trinity College Dublin

Ciara Finucane
Department of Psychology, TCIN, Trinity College Dublin

Aiden Corvin
Department of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin

Kevin J. Mitchell
Department of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin

Fiona N. Newell
Department of Psychology, TCIN, Trinity College Dublin

     Abstract ID Number: 36
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 15, 2005

Abstract
Ordinarily a physical stimulus gives rise to a unitary perception that is confined to a single sense. In synaesthesia the senses are mixed and a single stimulus elicits a dual perceptual experience. The aim of our study was to assess synaesthetic associations that occur within or between modalities. Questionnaire data was collected as part of an ongoing study into the phenotypic and neurobiological characteristics of synaesthesia. We present findings based on individual and familial data from 56 individuals with synaesthesia. Respondents were predominantly female with a gender bias of 7:1. 54% of individuals report a positive family history of synaesthesia. Data were collected on age, gender, handedness, memory abilities, types of synaesthesia, co-existence of more than one type of synaesthesia, unidirectionality, and the relationship between inducers and concurrents. While any of the senses may combine in the synaesthete, the most common reports were of colour-phoneme and colour-grapheme synaesthesia. Experiences of coloured-taste, coloured-pain and coloured-personalities were rare. Our data suggest that individuals are unlikely to experience only one form of synaesthesia and that such experiences commonly involve colour and occur between modalities, for example coloured hearing and taste.