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Article
Nature Neuroscience  5, 371 - 375 (2002)
Published online: 25 February 2002; | doi:10.1038/nn818

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of synesthesia: activation of V4/V8 by spoken words

J. A. Nunn1, 2, L. J. Gregory2, 8, M. Brammer3, S. C. R. Williams2, D. M. Parslow4, M. J. Morgan5, R. G. Morris4, E. T. Bullmore6, S. Baron-Cohen6, 7 & J. A. Gray4

1  Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, London SE14 6NW, UK

2  Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK

3  Brain Image Analysis Unit Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK

4  Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK

5  Applied Vision Research Centre, The City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V OHB, UK

6  Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, UK

7  Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK

8  Gastrointestinal Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL

Correspondence should be addressed to J. A. Nunn j.nunn@gold.ac.uk
In 'colored-hearing' synesthesia, individuals report color experiences when they hear spoken words. If the synesthetic color experience resembles that of normal color perception, one would predict activation of parts of the visual system specialized for such perception, namely the human 'color center', referred to as either V4 or V8. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we here locate the region activated by speech in synesthetes to area V4/V8 in the left hemisphere, and demonstrate overlap with V4/V8 activation in normal controls in response to color. No activity was detected in areas V1 or V2, suggesting that activity in primary visual cortex is not necessary for such experience. Control subjects showed no activity in V4/V8 when imagining colors in response to spoken words, despite overtraining on word−color associations similar to those spontaneously reported by synesthetes.

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Nature Neuroscience
ISSN: 1097-6256
EISSN: 1546-1726
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