MPI Colloquium Prof. Jamie Ward
ABSTRACT
Synaesthesia as a model system for neurodiversity
People with synaesthesia have remarkable inner experiences: words can have tastes, and music can be coloured. But are they remarkable in other ways? That is, beyond the experience of synaesthesia itself. Here I present evidence that supports the view that the unusual experiences of synaesthetes are linked to an unusual cognitive and brain-based phenotype. This represents a hidden source of individual variation within the general population, that can be construed as a (non-clinical) form of neurodiversity. I will present evidence that shows that synaesthetes differ on a range of perceptual and cognitive functions, and that the degree of this difference is as large as for more established forms of neurodiversity (such as autism). Synaesthesia is also linked to large-scale differences in brain structure and function. The talk will also speculate on the evolutionary and developmental origins of synaesthesia.
Short Biography
Prof. Jamie Ward is the Co-Director of Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme 'From Sensation and Perception to Awareness' (2018-) and the Sussex REF lead for 'Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience' (2022-). He is also the President of the British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience, and Founding Editor of 'Cognitive Neuroscience', and was a Director of Sussex Neuroscience from 2015-2022. He conducts research in human cognitive neuroscience using methods such as neuropsychology, fMRI, TMS and EEG. The specific focus of his present research can be divided into three inter-related strands that all relate to individual differences in perceptual experience, and the relation between perception and other aspects of cognition (including memory and social cognition).
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