Dermo-optical perception: the non-synesthetic "palpability of colors" a comment on Larner (2006).
We comment on Larner's (2006) recent description of the seventeenth-century case of a blind man who could differentiate the color of objects by touch. This ability is generally known as "dermo-optical perception" and is due to the cutaneous temperature sense rather than to synesthetic processing. Although devoid of references to the phenomenon of dermo-optical perception, Larner's communication is highly valuable because it raises several issues relevant to present-day neurosciences. These comprise functional reorganization after sensory loss, handedness effects, and differences between single fingers in the sensitivity to thermal changes.
Brugger
Peter
P
Neuropsychology Unit, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. peter.brugger@usz.ch
Weiss
Peter H
PH
D001831:Body Temperature; D003116:Color; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000266:history / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012677:Sensation; D014796:Visual Perception