University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Swiss Distance University Institute, Brig, Switzerland.
University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Cortex. 2021 Jul;140:14-25. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.01.024. Epub 2021 Mar 31.
Memory research has identified many strategies to enhance memory. However, natural foundations of enhanced memory are vastly underexplored. Interestingly, numerous studies show that synesthesia is associated with enhanced memory performance. Although it has been hypothesized for years that wider changes in visual perception are closely linked with enhanced memory functions in synesthesia, the hypothesis has never been directly put to the test. Here, we investigated whether visual perceptual abilities in synesthesia are linked with higher memory performance by comparing synesthetes who experience colors for letters with non-synesthetic color experts and non-synesthetic individuals from the more general population. Our results showed that synesthesia and expertise share a common profile of enhanced visual perceptual ability and memory in contrast to non-synesthetic individuals from the more general population. Overall, our findings suggest that visual perception and visual memory are more closely connected than previously thought.
记忆研究已经确定了许多增强记忆的策略。然而，增强记忆的自然基础在很大程度上还未被探索。有趣的是，许多研究表明，联觉与增强的记忆表现有关。虽然多年来人们一直假设更广泛的视觉感知变化与联觉中的增强记忆功能密切相关，但这一假设从未被直接验证过。在这里，我们通过比较体验字母颜色的联觉者与非联觉的颜色专家以及更广泛人群中的非联觉个体，来研究联觉中的视觉感知能力是否与更高的记忆表现有关。我们的结果表明，联觉和专业知识在增强的视觉感知能力和记忆方面具有共同的特征，而与更广泛人群中的非联觉个体形成对比。总的来说，我们的发现表明，视觉感知和视觉记忆的联系比以前想象的更紧密。
