Auditory-visual multisensory interactions in depth
Celine Cappe, Micah M. Murray
Poster
Last modified: 2008-05-13
Abstract
Multisensory interactions are a fundamental feature brain organization facilitating behaviour and enhancing sensory-cognitive processes. To date, the overwhelming majority of studies have investigated the ‘spatial rule’ of multisensory processing using spatial variation in azimuth. There is comparatively sparse evidence concerning multisensory integration of spatial cues in depth. Depth cues convey meaningful signals such as looming/approaching and recession that will inform an organism of impending dangers/collisions. These studies suggest that unisensory looming stimuli receive a processing advantage over receding stimuli and that multisensory integration in depth may be limited to looming stimuli. The present study addressed these issues in humans. Participants were presented with looming, receding, or constant intensity stimuli that were visual, auditory, or multisensory. Their task was to indicate, irrespective of sensory modality, whether they perceived a change in distance/movement. All multisensory stimulus conditions facilitated performance relative to their constituent unisensory conditions, irrespective of whether the perceived motion was in the same or different directions. Consistent with integrative processes, facilitation in all cases exceeded predictions based on probability summation. Multisensory benefits were further enhanced for looming stimuli over all other conditions. Finally, we present preliminary electrical neuroimaging results concerning the spatio-temporal brain dynamics of these effects.