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Prevalence, characteristics and a neurocognitive model of mirror-touch synaesthesia

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Abstract

In so-called ‘mirror-touch synaesthesia’, observing touch to another person induces a subjective tactile sensation on the synaesthete’s own body. It has been suggested that this type of synaesthesia depends on increased activity in neural systems activated when observing touch to others. Here we report the first study on the prevalence of this variant of synaesthesia. Our findings indicate that this type of synaesthesia is just as common, if not more common than some of the more frequently studied varieties of synaesthesia such as grapheme-colour synaesthesia. Additionally, we examine behavioural correlates associated with the condition. In a second experiment, we show that synaesthetic experiences are not related to somatotopic cueing—a flash of light on an observed body part does not elicit the behavioural or subjective characteristics of synaesthesia. Finally, we propose a neurocognitive model to account for these characteristics and discuss the implications of our findings for general theories of synaesthesia.

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Notes

  1. The predictions for synaesthetes with the anatomical sub-type are unclear because their usual synaesthetic phenomenology would contradict their own prior experiences of observing their own face in a mirror (e.g. when shaving or putting on make-up).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by an ESRC studentship to MJB and an ESRC project grant to JW. The work was partly supported by a MRC project grant to VW. We would like to thank Sian Fitzpatrick, Clare Jonas, and Flor Kusnir for assistance with the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Michael J. Banissy, Roi Cohen Kadosh & Vincent Walsh

  2. Center for Mind and Brain, University of California Davis, Davis, USA

    Gerrit W. Maus

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Gerrit W. Maus & Jamie Ward

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  1. Michael J. Banissy
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  2. Roi Cohen Kadosh
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  3. Gerrit W. Maus
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  4. Vincent Walsh
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  5. Jamie Ward
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Correspondence to Michael J. Banissy.

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Banissy, M.J., Kadosh, R.C., Maus, G.W. et al. Prevalence, characteristics and a neurocognitive model of mirror-touch synaesthesia. Exp Brain Res 198, 261–272 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1810-9

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