Hearing Colours, Tasting Shapes

Question 1

What is a theory of how synesthesia works?

Answer 1

Cross-wiring of different sensory-processing regions can explain it
Could be physical or chemical

Question 2

What happens if you conduct pop-out tests on synesthetes?

Answer 2

They can see the target much easier than regular volunteers because they numbers they are looking at actually have different colours in their mind

Question 3

What happens if you conduct crowding tests on synesthetes?

Answer 3

They can correctly guess the number that is being flanked by the crowding due to the colour it appears as
Even if they cannot physically see the number (it looks invisible), they can still see the colour associated with it

Question 4

What happens if you show synesthetes a Roman numeral?

Answer 4

They saw no colour
Suggests that the physical appearance of the number drives the colour and not the concept of it

Question 5

What is the angular gyrus concerned with?

Answer 5

Numerical concepts such as sequence (ordinality) and quantity (cardinality)

Question 6

Where are colours and numbers processed initially?

Answer 6

fusiform gyrus

Question 7

What does the angular gyrus evolve for originally?

Answer 7

Cross-modal associations but then became co-opted for each other