A5002077589- Multisensory perception and integration
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Color perception and design
- Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques
- Face Recognition and Perception
- Categorization, perception, and language
- Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods
- Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
- Action Observation and Synchronization
- Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Financial Crisis of the 21st Century
- Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Data Analysis and Archiving
- Linguistic research and analysis
- Color Science and Applications
- Lexicography and Language Studies
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity Research
Radboud University Nijmegen
2015-2025
Tilburg University
2021-2025
ORCID
2024
Digital Science (United Kingdom)
2023
Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience
2014-2020
Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
2014-2020
Google (United States)
2020
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
2010-2016
Language Science (South Korea)
2014-2016
Max Planck Society
2010-2016
Synesthesia provides an elegant model to investigate neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in subjective experience humans. In grapheme–color synesthesia, written letters induce color sensations, accompanied by activation of area V4. Competing hypotheses suggest that enhanced V4 activity during synesthesia is either induced direct bottom-up cross-activation from grapheme processing areas within the fusiform gyrus, or indirectly via higher-order parietal areas. Synesthetes...
Synaesthesia is a sensory phenomenon where specific inputs such as written letters or tastes automatically trigger additional sensations (for instance colours). The more common in people on the autism spectrum compared to general population and seems also be associated with other neurodevelopmental psychiatric conditions features.We assessed associations between self-reported synaesthesia eight neurodevelopmental/psychiatric features 18-year-old twins estimated genetic environmental...
Task-evoked pupil dilation has been linked to many cognitive variables, perhaps most notably unexpected events. Zénon (2019) proposed a unifying framework stating that related cognition should be considered from an information-theory perspective. In the current study, we investigated whether pupil’s response decision outcome in context of associative learning reflects prediction error defined formally as information gain, while also exploring time course this signal. To do so, adapted simple...
Task-evoked pupil dilation has been linked to many cognitive variables, perhaps most notably unexpected events. Zénon (2019) proposed a unifying framework stating that related cognition should be considered from an information-theory perspective. In the current study, we investigated whether pupil’s response decision outcome in context of associative learning reflects prediction error defined formally as information gain, while also exploring time course this signal. To do so, adapted simple...
Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technologies such as virtual supermarkets arean emerging medium to model individuals’ eating behaviour. However, existing VR environments elicit weaker responses food (i.e., craving and salivation) than in real-life, limiting their validity research tools. We developed an immersive multisensory environment – with both visual olfactory (smell) cues investigated whether it could bridge this gap responses, effects may be mediated by enhanced sense of presence. In...
Background In synaesthesia, sensations in a particular modality cause additional experiences second, unstimulated (e.g., letters elicit colour). Understanding how synaesthesia is mediated the brain can help to understand normal processes of perceptual awareness and multisensory integration. several neuroimaging studies, enhanced activity for grapheme-colour has been found ventral-occipital areas that are also involved real colour processing. Our question was whether neural correlates...
Eye movements can have serious confounding effects in cognitive neuroscience experiments. Therefore, participants are commonly asked to fixate. Regardless, will make so-called fixational eye under attempted fixation, which thought be necessary prevent perceptual fading. Neural changes related these could potentially explain previously reported neural decoding and neuroimaging results fixation. In previous work, fixation passive viewing, we found no evidence for systematic movements. Here,...
We report associations between vowel sounds, graphemes, and colors collected online from over 1,000 Dutch speakers. also provide open materials, including a Python implementation of the structure measure code for single-page web application to run simple cross-modal tasks. full dataset color-vowel 1,164 participants, 200 synesthetes identified using consistency measures. Our analysis reveals salient patterns in introduces novel isomorphism mappings. found that, while acoustic features vowels...
Synaesthesia, a mixing of the senses, is more common in individuals with autism. Here, we review evidence for association between synaesthesia and autism regard to their genetic background, brain connectivity, perception, cognitive mechanisms contribution exceptional talents. Currently, overlap established most convincingly at level alterations sensory sensitivity synaesthetes showing autism-like profiles bias towards details perception. Shared features may include predominance local over...
Abstract Predictive processing theories state that our subjective experience of reality is shaped by a balance expectations based on previous knowledge about the world (i.e. priors) and confidence in sensory input from environment. Divergent experiences (e.g. hallucinations synaesthesia) are likely to occur when there an imbalance between one’s reliance priors input. In novel theoretical model, inspired both predictive psychological principles, we propose predictable divergent associated...
In synesthesia, stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to additional, involuntary experiences in a second pathway. We here review previous surveys on this neurologically based phenomenon and report the results 63 synesthetes who completed our Internet paper questionnaire synesthesia. addition asking for personal data information participant's focused components inducer that elicit modulate Synesthesia was most often developmental (92%) grapheme-color type (86%). Sixty-two...
In synaesthetes, specific sensory stimuli (e.g. black letters) elicit additional experiences colour). Synaesthesia is highly prevalent among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the mechanisms of this co-occurrence are not clear. We hypothesized and synaesthesia share atypical sensitivity perception. assessed autistic traits, visual perception in two synaesthete populations. Study 1, synaesthetes (N = 79, different types) scored higher than non-synaesthetes 76) on...
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a longitudinal language learning approach were applied to investigate the relationship between achieved second (L2) proficiency during L2 reorganization of structural connectivity core areas. Language tests DTI scans obtained from German students before after they completed an intensive 6-week course Dutch language. In initial stage, with increasing proficiency, hemispheric dominance Brodmann area (BA) 6-temporal pathway (mainly along arcuate fasciculus)...
Synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon affecting perception, where triggering stimuli (e.g. letters and numbers) elicit unusual secondary sensory experiences colours). Family-based studies point to role for genetic factors in the development of this trait. However, contributions common genomic variation synaesthesia have not yet been investigated. Here, we present SynGenes cohort, largest genotyped collection unrelated people with grapheme-colour (n = 723). has associated range other...
Synaesthesia is highly prevalent in autism spectrum disorder. We assessed the relation between degree of autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient, AQ) and synaesthesia a neurotypical population, hypothesized both are related to local bias visual perception. A positive correlation total AQ scores was found, extending previous studies clinical populations. Consistent with our hypothesis, AQ-attention detail were increased performance on an Embedded Figures Task reduced susceptibility...
Individual differences in perception are widespread. Considering inter-individual variability, synesthetes experience stable additional sensations; schizophrenia patients suffer perceptual deficits in, eg, organization (alongside hallucinations and delusions). Is there a unifying principle explaining variability perception? There is good reason to believe results from inferential processes whereby sensory evidence weighted by prior knowledge about the world. Perceptual may result different...
Numerous studies demonstrate people associate colors with letters and numbers in systematic ways. But most of these rely on speakers English, or closely related languages. This makes it difficult to know how generalizable findings are, what factors might underlie associations. We investigated letter–color number–color associations Arabic speakers, who have a different writing system unusual word structure compared Standard Average European also aimed identify grapheme–color synaesthetes...
Synesthesia occurs more commonly in individuals fulfilling criteria for an autism spectrum diagnosis than the general population. It is associated with autistic traits and autism-related perceptual processing characteristics, including a detail-focused attentional style altered sensory sensitivity. In addition, these characteristics correlate degree of grapheme-color synesthesia (consistency associations) non-synesthetes. We investigated predominantly non-synesthetic twin sample, or other...
Mirror-sensory synaesthetes mirror the pain or touch that they observe in other people on their own bodies. This type of synaesthesia has been associated with enhanced empathy. We investigated whether empathy mirror-sensory synesthesia influences experience situations involving and it affects prosocial decision making. (N = 18, all female), verified a touch-interference paradigm, were compared similar number age-matched control individuals (all female). Participants viewed arousing images...