A Connectionist Exploration of the Computational Implications of Embodiment: Ronan Reilly

Now, while the cases that Cytowic et al. described are dramatic and rare, Cytowic has argued elsewhere (Cytowic, 1992) that synesthesia is a phenomenon that can manifest itself in a wider range of people under special circumstances, such as when induced by hallucinogenic drugs, or in people suffering from migraine. In the latter case, prior to a migraine attack many sufferers experience cross-modal sensory distortions. Cytowic argues that cross-modal interaction occurs in all of us, but that it is available to consciousness in only a few, namely those who experience synesthesia.