Visual field heterogeneity, laterality, and eidetic imagery in synesthesia.
JS was a grapheme-color synesthete in whom numerals and letters of the alphabet consistently evoked colors. In the first set of experiments we showed that the color - in a consistent and reliable manner - was most pronounced in the left visual field and in central vision. In the second experiment we devised a novel test for eidetic imagery and showed that his self-report of enhanced imagery could be verified experimentally. The implications of these findings for the level at which synesthesia occurs, the 'enhanced cross-activation' model, and the mechanisms of visual memory are discussed.
Brang
David
D
Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Ramachandran
V S
VS
D000328:Adult; D055253:Color Vision / Q000502:physiology*; D004538:Eidetic Imagery / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*