Grapheme-Color Synesthesia: Neurological Palimpsest or Cognitive Metaphorization?
Abstract
Τhe grapheme-color synesthesia is one of the most widely studied types of this unusual experience. The neurological investigation can explain not only physiological foundations of synthetical perceptions, but also sheds light on the individual autophenomenological aspects of qualia. Synesthesia is a phenomenal condition in which stimulation of one sensory perception causes unexpected nonpathological experiences in a second, unstimulated perception. There are two very promising hypotheses of grapheme-color synesthesia but both meet strong counterarguments. The debates about the nature of grapheme-color synesthesia reveal that it is possible to link it to associative, methaphorical nonconscious cognitive processes. The “palimpsest hypothesis” justifies that language can use the same pathways or networks that were specialized for color perception. These assumptions can improve understanding of “private language” philosophical hypotheses.
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References
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