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The emergence of synaesthesia in a Neuronal Network Model via changes in perceptual sensitivity and plasticity

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posted on 2023-06-09, 02:01 authored by Oren Shriki, Yaniv Sadeh, Jamie WardJamie Ward
Synaesthesia is an unusual perceptual experience in which an inducer stimulus triggers a percept in a different domain in addition to its own. To explore the conditions under which synaesthesia evolves, we studied a neuronal network model that represents two recurrently connected neural systems. The interactions in the network evolve according to learning rules that optimize sensory sensitivity. We demonstrate several scenarios, such as sensory deprivation or heightened plasticity, under which synaesthesia can evolve even though the inputs to the two systems are statistically independent and the initial cross-talk interactions are zero. Sensory deprivation is the known causal mechanism for acquired synaesthesia and increased plasticity is implicated in developmental synaesthesia. The model unifies different causes of synaesthesia within a single theoretical framework and repositions synaesthesia not as some quirk of aberrant connectivity, but rather as a functional brain state that can emerge as a consequence of optimising sensory information processing.

Funding

Enhanced Memory Ability: Insights from Synaesthesia; G1116; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; ES/K006215/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

PLoS Computational Biology

ISSN

1553-734X

Publisher

Public Library of Science

Issue

7

Volume

12

Article number

e1004959

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-07-04

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-07-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-07-14

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