Acquired and inherited forms of cross-modal correspondence

Abstract:

Coloured hearing synaesthesia (from the Greek syn [union] and aisthesis [sensation]), has been known to the scientific community for over 300 years and yet has gone relatively uninvestigated. In this review we chart recent research into the various forms of synaesthesia and contrast accounts of acquired and developmental forms of the condition. We also review the competing theories proposed to account for developmental forms, and conclude that preserved neonatal neural pathways between brain areas subserving audition and vision provide a likely explanation of the condition.