Cacciari's chapter addresses the topic of synaesthetic metaphor, where it comes from, and how it is understood ("Crossing the Senses in Metaphorical Language"). She argues that perceptually based metaphorical expressions (e.g., "cold silence") are grounded in the structure of perceptual experiences and the human sensory system. Contemporary research in cognitive and neuropsychology lends support to this idea, with most people being able to use synaesthetic metaphors quite easily. However, some individuals have special abilities to create and exploit cross-sensory mappings (i.e., blending sounds with colors), which also provide extraordinary evidence for how sensory experiences, supported by neural mechanisms, are fundamental to metaphorical mappings in thought and language. (Raymond Gibbs)