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SYNESTHETIC
ASSOCIATIONAL
PATTERNS
BETWEEN LETTERS
AND COLORSLaura Mariah Herman |Vision Sciences Lab, Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Pine Crest School, Fort Lauderdale, FL
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BACKGROUND
• Synesthesia: inherent blending of the senses.– Grapheme-color is most common:
letters/numbers→colors
– Each synesthete associates each letter with different colors
– Caused by excess neuronal connections per mutated enzyme
– Single nucleotide polymorphism (16th chromosome)
• Genetically transmitted to ~0.01% of population
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Welcome to my world
of synesthesia!
Welcome to my world
of synesthesia!
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QUESTION
What causes certain letters to be
associated with certain colors?
Why is this A
red?
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MATERIALS & METHODS
• Color frequency (wavelengths) compared to letter frequency (%)
• Synesthete color charts collective of synesthetes of the language (color the majority of synesthetes associated with each letter was used)
• English: dictionary vs. Brown Corpus (better cross-section of English language) vs. children’s books (synesthetic associations form as the subject learns the alphabet and remain the same)
• English, Spanish, German to verify causation vs. coincidence
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SYNESTHETE COLOR CHARTS
0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
5 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 2 1 1 2 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 2 3
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 3 0 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2
0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 1 3
12 12 12 11 10 11 11 11 7 10 8 9 12 13 9 10 10 7 11 9 9 11 11 10 8 14
English
Spanish
German
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DATA: FIGURE 1 (ENGLISH DICTIONARY)
R² = 0.659
300
0.1 1 10 100
Co
lor
wav
ele
ng
th (
nm
)
Frequency in the English Language (%)
Synesthetic Associational Pattern between Frequencies 1000
R2= 0.6597
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DATA: FIGURE 2 (BROWN CORPUS)
R2= 0.45299
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DATA: FIGURES 3 AND 4 (SPANISH/GERMAN)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0.01 0.1 1 10
Co
lor
wav
ele
ng
th (
nm
)
Frequency in the Spanish Language (%)
Synesthetic Associational Pattern Between Frequencies in the Spanish
Language
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0.01 0.1 1 10
Co
lor
wav
ele
ng
th (
nm
)
Frequency in the German Language (%)
Synesthetic Associational Pattern Between Frequencies in the German
Language
r² = 0.47
r² = 0.72
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DATA: FIGURE 5 (CHILDREN’S BOOKS)
R² = 0.565
100
1000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Co
lor
Wav
ele
ng
th (
nm
)
Letter Frequency (%)
Synesthetic Associational Pattern Between Frequencies in Children's Books R² = 0.5656
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NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL THEORY• From data, theorized which “color” and “letter” areas of the brain are fused in
synesthetes
• V4- color center in occipital lobe
– Previously suggested by fMRIs of synesthetes
– Columnar structure of neurons organized by long, middle, short wavelength
cone signals as matches previous data
– Neuron preference for more saturated and long-wavelength colors
• Left Middle Temporal Gyrus (LMTG)- semantic processing/sensory integration
– Lends itself to functional neuroconnections
– Core component of individuality of semantic system
• fusion of V4 and LMTG supported functionally and topographically
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V4 and the LMTG. They are closely situated, as supports the theory of their connectivity in
synesthetes.
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DISCUSSION AND APPLICATIONS
• First synesthetic color/letter association pattern found
• Mapping of not only synesthetic connections, but also V4/LMTG (perhaps the largely uncharted LMTG is organized according to frequency of letters, etc.)
• Induce (visual memory, artistic talent)/reduce (overwhelming colors for some synesthetes) synesthesia
• Autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy also caused by excess neuronal connections- synesthetes provide a model brain not inhibited by medication or cognitive impairments.
– For example, sensory areas of the brain connected with the limbic system (anger management) in autistics, causing simple sensory cues to extremely anger the patient
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BIBLIOGRAPHYBarnett, K. J., Finucane, C., Asher, J.E., Bargary, G., Corvin, A. P., Newell, F.N., Mitchell, K.J. (2007). Familial patterns and the origins of individual differences in synaesthesia. Cognition, 106, 871-893.
Beeli, G., Esslen, M., Jancke, L. (2007). Frequency Correlates in Grapheme-Color Synesthesia. Psychological Science, 18-9: 788-792.
Berlin, B., & Kay, P. (1969). Basic color terms: Their universality and evolution. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Emrich, H., Schneider, U., Zedler, M. Welche Farbe hat der Montag? Berlin: S. Herzel Verlag, 2004.
Kotake, Y. (2009). Organization of Color-Selective Neurons in Macaque Visual Area V4. Journal of Neurophysiology, 102, 15-27.
Nunn, J.A., Gregory, L.J., Brammer, M., Williams, S.C.R., Parslow, D.M., Morgan, M.J., Morris, R.G., Bullmore, E.T., Baron-Cohen, S., Gray, J.A. (2002) Functional magnetic resonance imaging of synesthesia: activation of V4/V8 by spoken words. Natural Neuroscience, 4, 371-5.
Rich, A.N., Bradshaw, J.L., Mattingley, J.B. (2004). A systematic, large-scale study of synaesthesia: implications for the role of early experience in lexical-colour associations. Cognition. 98, 53–84.
Rissman, J. (2003). An Event-Related fMRI Investigation of Implicit Semantic Priming. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 8, 1160-75.
Scullion, Val., Treby, Marrion.,(2010). Creative Synaesthesia in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Ritter Gluck. European Review. 18: 239-262.
Wei, Tao. (2012). Predicting Conceptual Processing Capacity from Spontaneous Neuronal Activity of the Left Middle Temporal Gyrus. Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 481-9.
Roland, D., Dick, F., & Elman, J. L. (2007). Frequency of basic English grammatical structures: A corpus analysis. Journal of Memory and Language, 57(3), 348-379.
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THANK YOU FOR
YOUR TIME AND
CONSIDERATION!