Are "Cognitive Fossils" Significant for Art? Studies of Synesthesia in Normal and Abnormal Cases

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Several years ago Leonardo began a discussion on the problems of synesthesia and its role in art [1]. I think it worthwhile to summarize our principal arguments and conclusions in a condensed form, in this short paper [2].

The world is integrated; and so is the system of the senses of different modalities. The integrity of any system is determined by the variety of bonds existing within it. In polymodal perception, the following types of bonds can be singled out:

1. 1. Joint, coordinated actions of the sense organs, ensuring versatile perception of the world. I will use the term "synergy" for such coordinated action (see works by S.L. Rubinstein [3] and B.G. Ananjev [4]). For example: One may see sunrise, sense the cool of the morning, hear the birds singing; the result is the integral (holistic) image of the dawn.

2. 2. Associative interaction (synesthesia)—the reflection in consciousness of various connections arising in the process of synergetic reflection of the integral world; that is, intermodal "co-experience" accompanying the single-sensory perceptive act (see the works of J. Herder [5], A. Wellek [6] and B. Galeyev [7]). An example: When somebody says "warm color" he or she transfers the sensation of warmth to a visual modality, marking the likeness of two heteromodal perceptions by the feeling to which they both give rise.

3. 3. Mutual sensibilization—a change of sensitivity in one sense organ caused by the functioning of another. This means the interactivation of the system's elements through some kind of medium, either external or internal (see work by S.V. Kravkov [8]). Thus, it is known that in some individuals certain odors can change threshold sensitivity to certain colors.

The above three types of inter-sensory interactions do not simply co-exist, but depend upon each other. So there exists a higher connection between them, which obviously has a systemic character also. Evidently, the existence of that connection has led to the confusion of these types of bonds in a number of works (see, for example, T. Ribot [9], H. Werner [10], A. Merriam [11], V.I. Kauffmann [12] and M. McLuhan [13]).

Synesthesia is the least studied type; and, making the situation worse, the same term is often applied to both "normal" and "abnormal" cases. I will refer to associative linkage (shared by all humanity) as "normal" synesthesia. Unfortunately, many authors prefer to focus attention on "abnormal" synesthesia, which leads to the dramatic misapprehension of synesthesia's role in the psyche, culture, language and art.

It should be stressed that asystemic bonds are possible; they are even inevitable in any complex system that undergoes fluctuations of either external or intrinsic parameters. These bonds would appear as deviations from the norm in all the above types of system-forming interactions: synergy, mutual sensibilization and synesthesia. Such deviations may result in either slackening or over-strengthening of the system's intrinsic bonds. In the first case the perceptive system loses its integrity; in the second case, the qualitative heterogeneity of its structure. So in both cases the system would fail to serve the purpose of the adequate reflection of reality.

An abnormal slackening of the system's bonds would lead to the deterioration of the ability to apprehend metaphors, including synesthetic ones (this fact has been noted in psychopathology by V.V. Nalimov [14]). On the other hand, their abnormal strengthening would result in the meaningless replacement of synergy by a synchronous real co-sensation. Such real co-sensation is a rare condition, occurring when substantial contacts with either the physical or the information environment are broken and the functional system's bonds distorted. This leads to "altered states of consciousness," observed, for example, under drug-induced stimulation, sensory isolation, hypnotic meditation combined with self-isolation of one's personality, and so on (as observed by A. Huxley [15]). These...