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Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics

The neurochemical mechanisms that contribute to synaesthesia are poorly understood, but multiple models implicate serotonin and GABA in the development of this condition. Here we used psychophysical tasks to test the predictions that synaesthetes would display behavioral performance consistent with...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Terhune, Devin B., Song, Seoho M., Duta, Mihaela D., Kadosh, Roi Cohen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3929841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24600378
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00089
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author Terhune, Devin B.
Song, Seoho M.
Duta, Mihaela D.
Kadosh, Roi Cohen
author_facet Terhune, Devin B.
Song, Seoho M.
Duta, Mihaela D.
Kadosh, Roi Cohen
author_sort Terhune, Devin B.
collection PubMed
description The neurochemical mechanisms that contribute to synaesthesia are poorly understood, but multiple models implicate serotonin and GABA in the development of this condition. Here we used psychophysical tasks to test the predictions that synaesthetes would display behavioral performance consistent with reduced GABA and elevated serotonin in primary visual cortex. Controls and synaesthetes completed the orientation-specific surround suppression (OSSS) and tilt-after effect (TAE) tasks, previously shown to relate to GABA and serotonin levels, respectively. Controls and synaesthetes did not differ in the performance parameter previously associated with GABA or in the magnitude of the TAE. However, synaesthetes did display lower contrast difference thresholds in the OSSS task than controls when no surround (NS) was present. These results are inconsistent with the hypothesized roles of GABA and serotonin in this condition, but provide preliminary evidence that synaesthetes exhibit enhanced contrast discrimination.
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spelling pubmed-39298412014-03-05 Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics Terhune, Devin B. Song, Seoho M. Duta, Mihaela D. Kadosh, Roi Cohen Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience The neurochemical mechanisms that contribute to synaesthesia are poorly understood, but multiple models implicate serotonin and GABA in the development of this condition. Here we used psychophysical tasks to test the predictions that synaesthetes would display behavioral performance consistent with reduced GABA and elevated serotonin in primary visual cortex. Controls and synaesthetes completed the orientation-specific surround suppression (OSSS) and tilt-after effect (TAE) tasks, previously shown to relate to GABA and serotonin levels, respectively. Controls and synaesthetes did not differ in the performance parameter previously associated with GABA or in the magnitude of the TAE. However, synaesthetes did display lower contrast difference thresholds in the OSSS task than controls when no surround (NS) was present. These results are inconsistent with the hypothesized roles of GABA and serotonin in this condition, but provide preliminary evidence that synaesthetes exhibit enhanced contrast discrimination. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-02-20 /pmc/articles/PMC3929841/ /pubmed/24600378 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00089 Text en Copyright © 2014 Terhune, Song, Duta and Cohen Kadosh. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Terhune, Devin B.
Song, Seoho M.
Duta, Mihaela D.
Kadosh, Roi Cohen
Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
title Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
title_full Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
title_fullStr Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
title_full_unstemmed Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
title_short Probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
title_sort probing the neurochemical basis of synaesthesia using psychophysics
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3929841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24600378
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00089
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