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Does synaesthesia age? Changes in the quality and consistency of synaesthetic associations

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posted on 2023-06-09, 08:54 authored by Julia SimnerJulia Simner, Alberta Ipser, Rebecca SmeesRebecca Smees, James Alvarez
Developmental grapheme-colour synaesthesia is a rare condition in which colours become automatically paired with letters or digits in the minds of certain individuals during childhood, and remain paired into adulthood. Although synaesthesia is well understood in younger adults almost nothing is known about synaesthesia in aging. We present the first evidence that aging desaturates synaesthetic colours in the minds of older synaesthetes, and we show for the first time that aging affects the key diagnostic measure of synaesthesia (consistency of colours over time). We screened ~4000 members of the general population to identify grapheme-colour synaesthetes, targeting both younger and older adults. We found proportionally fewer older than younger synaesthetes, not only because fewer older people self-reported the condition, but because fewer also passed the objective diagnostic test. We examined the roots of this apparent decline in grapheme-colour synaesthesia, finding that the internal mental colours of synaesthetes become less saturated in older subjects, and importantly, that low-saturated colours are linked with test-failure. We discuss what these findings mean for a novel field of aging and synaesthesia research, in terms of the lifespan development of synaesthesia and how best to diagnose synaesthesia in later life.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Neuropsychologia

ISSN

0028-3932

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

106

Page range

407-416

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Synaesthesia Research Group Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-11-17

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-09-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-11-17

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