title: Synesthesia for manual alphabet letters and numeral signs in second-language users of signed languages.
abstract: Many synesthetes experience colors when viewing letters or digits. We document, for the first time, an analogous phenomenon among users of signed languages who showed color synesthesia for fingerspelled letters and signed numerals. Four synesthetes experienced colors when they viewed manual letters and numerals (in two cases, colors were subjectively projected on to the hands). There was a correspondence between the colors experienced for written graphemes and their manual counterparts, suggesting that the development of these two types of synesthesia is interdependent despite the fact that these systems are superficially distinct and rely on different perceptual recognition mechanisms in the brain.
authors.affiliation: a DCAL Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre , University College London , London , UK.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , University of Sussex , Brighton , UK.
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.affiliation: c Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eagleman
authors.affiliation: a DCAL Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre , University College London , London , UK.
authors.forename: Bencie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Woll
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , University of Sussex , Brighton , UK.|d Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science , University of Sussex , Brighton , UK.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012813:Sign Language; D000080311:Synesthesia; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: American sign language; British sign language; Synesthesia; deaf; fingerspelling