Synesthesia isa clinical condition in which a sensation in one sense modality triggers anarbitrarily related sensation in another (or the same) modality. Somedevelopmental theorists (notably Maurer, Gibson, & Spector, 2012, see Harvey, 2013, for some critical comments) have argued thatperception is synesthetic in early life on the basis that newborns likelypossess much more in the way of synaptic connectivity between sensory brainareas, arguing that this is later pruned back through development as a resultof experience.
See Cross-modal coordination, Developmental differentiation, Developmental integration, Experience-dependent process
Harvey, J.P. (2013). Sensory perception: Lessonsfrom synesthesia. Yale Journal of Biologyand Medicine, 86, 203-216.
Maurer, D.,Gibson, L. C., & Spector, F. (2012). Infant synaesthesia: Newinsights into the development of multisensory perception. In A. J. Bremner, D.J. Lewkowicz, & C. Spence (Eds.), Multisensorydevelopment (pp. 229-250). Oxford,UK: Oxford University Press.