Spatial and temporal factors in audiovisual integration: An fMRI sudy
Bjoern Bonath, Steven A. Hillyard, Sascha Tyll, Jyoti Mishra, Hans Jochen Heinze, Toemme Noesselt
Poster
Last modified: 2008-05-13
Abstract
Spatial and temporal constraints can influence multisensory integration (e.g. Driver & Noesselt, 2008). Recent neuroimaging studies investigated the neural basis of audiovisual interactions in perception (e.g. Noesselt et al. 2007, Meienbrock et al. 2007, Bonath & Noesselt etal. 2007) but none of these have studied both temporal and spatial factors concurrently using fMRI. Moreover, attention to either the spatial or temporal domain may further modulate the neural underpinnings of audiovisual processing. In the present fMRI-study, we varied both spatial and temporal properties of audiovisual stimuli, while subjects performed either a temporal or spatial audiovisual discrimination task. Sounds were presented at two different spatial positions (left/right) with both simultaneous and non-simultaneous light flashes (SOA 300 ms). These sound/light combinations occurred either within the same hemifield (sound/vision left/right) or at opposite hemifields (sound left/vision right and sound right/vision left). Preliminary results revealed modulations within superior temporal and visual cortical areas that were differentially modulated by the attended domain (spatial/temporal) and by physical congruency. Implications of the results will be discussed.