Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination
We are sorry, but NCBI web applications do not support your browser and may not function properly. More information
    Conscious Cogn. 2009 Sep;18(3):619-27. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.06.005. Epub 2009 Jul 24.

    Time-space synaesthesia--a cognitive advantage?

    Source

    Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. hmann@psych.ubc.ca

    Abstract

    Is synaesthesia cognitively useful? Individuals with time-space synaesthesia experience time units (such as months of the year) as idiosyncratic spatial forms, and report that these forms aid them in mentally organising their time. In the present study, we hypothesised that time-space synaesthesia would facilitate performance on a time-related cognitive task. Synaesthetes were not specifically recruited for participation; instead, likelihood of time-space synaesthesia was assessed on a continuous scale based on participants' responses during a semi-structured interview. Participants performed a month-manipulation task, which involved naming every second month or every third month in reverse-chronological order, beginning and ending with a target month. Using hierarchical multiple regression, we found that time-space synaesthesia corresponded with faster performance on both versions of the task. We propose that time-space synaesthesia may expedite the cognitive manipulation of time-based information. Our results also indicate that synaesthesia is far less unusual than widely believed.

    PMID:
    19632133
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

      Supplemental Content

      Icon for Elsevier Science

      Save items

      Recent activity

      Your browsing activity is empty.

      Activity recording is turned off.

      Turn recording back on

      See more...
      Write to the Help Desk