Musically Evoked Narrative Imaginings in Synaesthetic and Non- Synaesthetic Expert Musicians
I am currently engaged in a three year project starting funded by a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship hosted at Durham University. It explores how music-colour synaesthesia influences imagination and narrative engagement in music, particularly focusing on expert musicians. It aims to understand how synaesthetic phenomena intersect with cognitive processes, consciousness, and creativity. The research investigates the similarities and differences between music-colour synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes in their mental imagery and narrative engagement with music.
Key Objectives:
- Compare the descriptions of music-evoked narrative imaginings (MENI) between music-colour synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes to understand how synaesthesia shapes imaginative content.
- Evaluate whether music-colour synaesthetes share conceptual associations with non-synaesthetes that influence their synaesthetic responses.
- Examine how musical features like genre, tempo, timbre, or key changes impact MENI in both groups.
Expected Outcomes:
The project will offer insights into how synaesthesia shapes music cognition and mental imagery, contributing to broader interdisciplinary discussions on consciousness, aesthetics, and creative processes.
CAROLINE CURWEN 