Robertson, Sagiv - Synesthesia Perspectives from Cognitive Neuroscience.pdf

SYNESTHESIA
Perspectives from
Cognitive Neuroscience
Edited by
Lynn C. Robertson and Noam Sagiv
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2005
OXJORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Synesthesia: perspectives from cognitive neuroscience /
edited by Lynn C. Robertson and Noam Sagiv.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-19-516623-X
1. Synesthesia. 2. Senses and sensation. 3. Cognitive neuroscience.
I. Robertson, Lynn C. II. Sagiv, Noam.
2004
152M!89—dc22 2003019496
987654321
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Dedicated to the memory of Jeffrey Alan Gray
Preface
ynesthesia is not a new phenomenon. It has appeared in the
Swritten literature for centuries and has piqued the interests of
many critical thinkers, including philosophers, psychologists, psychiatrists,
and theologians. It has now entered a different scope with new interest in
the phenomenon by scientists who study vision, cognition, and the brain.
Unlike color generated from light waves or odors by pounds,
the color, smell, sound, taste, or touch that is experienced by synesthetes is
generated by a physical stimulus that for most of us is entirely unconnected
to its induced sensation (., middle C invokes the sight of