Synesthesia

What is it about?

It has been suggested that research in cognitive neuroscience should be guided by basic questions regarding cognition, and not by basic questions regarding the brain. It has also been argued that the present preoccupation with various brainimaging technologies is more of a hindrance than an asset to resolving such basic issues. The study of synesthesia and creativity (and indeed of metaphor) has in the past decade attracted the attention of cognitive neuroscience. The question of unidirectionality versus bidirectionality in both synesthesia and metaphor seems to be one that could foster productive cognitive-neuroscientific research into synesthesia and creativity. Note that the Wernerian notion that synesthesia entails a dedifferentiation of modalities (or, a ‘breakdown in modularity’) is complemented by a contemporary view that synesthesia is indicative of a dedifferentiation in the brain.

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Why is it important?

What seems to be happening in the literature is that there is a focus on synesthesia as being a productive inroad into studying various issues of topical interest, while at the same time helping to further establish the field as a viable one in itself. However, the synesthesia–creativity relationship does not seem to fall within the main focus of such research. One way out of this impasse is to look at synesthesia as it is related to other phenomena, and indeed to reconsider a Gestalt approach to both fields of inquiry.