Unconscious priming eliminates automatic binding of colour and alphanumeric form in synaesthesia

Abstract

Synaesthesia is an unusual perceptual phenomenon in which events in one sensory modality induce vivid sensations in another^1,2. Individuals may ‘taste’ shapes³, ‘hear’ colours⁴, or ‘feel’ sounds⁵. Synaesthesia was first described over a century ago⁶, but little is known about its underlying causes or its effects on cognition. Most reports have been anecdotal or have focused on isolated unusual cases^3,7,8,9. Here we report an investigation of 15 individuals with colour-graphemic synaesthesia, each of whom experiences idiosyncratic but highly consistent colours for letters and digits. Using a colour–form interference paradigm, we show that induced synaesthetic experiences cannot be consciously suppressed even when detrimental to task performance. In contrast, if letters and digits are presented briefly and masked, so that they are processed but unavailable for overt report, the synaesthesia is eliminated. These results show that synaesthetic experiences can be prevented despite substantial processing of the sensory stimuli that otherwise trigger them. We conclude that automatic binding of colour and alphanumeric form in synaesthesia arises after initial processes of letter and digit recognition are complete.