Itoh Kosuke
Center for Integrated Human Brain Science, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuoku, Niigata, Japan.
Conscious Cogn. 2024 Feb;118:103650. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103650. Epub 2024 Jan 26.
A long-standing issue concerning synesthesia is whether the trait is continuous or discontinuous with ordinary perception. Here, we found that a substantial proportion of non-synesthetes (>10 % out of >200 unselected participants) spontaneously became aware of their synesthesia by participating in an online survey that forced them to select colors for stimuli that evoke color sensations in synesthetes. Notably, the test-retest consistencies of color sensation in these non-synesthetes were comparable to those in self-claimed synesthetes, revealing their strong though latent synesthetic dispositions. The effect was absent or weak in a matched control survey that did not include the color-picking test. Therefore, the color-picking task likely provided the predisposed "borderline non-synesthetes" with an opportunity to dwell on their tendency toward synesthesia and allowed their subconscious sensations to become conscious ones. The finding suggests that the general population has a continuum of synesthetic disposition that encompasses both synesthetes and non-synesthetes.
关于联觉的一个长期存在的问题是，该特质与普通感知是连续的还是不连续的。在这里，我们发现，相当一部分非联觉者（在200多名未经挑选的参与者中，超过10%）通过参与一项在线调查自发意识到了自己的联觉，这项调查迫使他们为在联觉者中引发颜色感觉的刺激选择颜色。值得注意的是，这些非联觉者颜色感觉的重测一致性与自称联觉者的重测一致性相当，揭示了他们强烈但潜在的联觉倾向。在不包括颜色选择测试的匹配对照调查中，该效应不存在或很弱。因此，颜色选择任务可能为预先存在的“临界非联觉者”提供了一个机会，让他们专注于自己的联觉倾向，并使他们的潜意识感觉变成有意识的感觉。这一发现表明，普通人群具有一个包括联觉者和非联觉者的联觉倾向连续体。
