Reduced audio–visual integration in synaesthetes indicated by the double-flash illusion

Neufeld, Janina; Sinke, Christopher; Zedler, Markus; Emrich, Hinderk M.; Szycik, Gregor R.

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2012.07.011

Cited by 37 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…We hypothesized, based on the idea of general hyperconnectivity in synesthesia , that we would find differences in multisensory integration processes unrelated to synesthetic sensations between synesthetes and controls, i.e., in an audio-visual semantic categorization task. Particularly with regard to previous behavioral data that suggested the reduction of audio-visual integration in synesthetes as indicated by a reduced number of audio-visual illusions (Neufeld et al, 2012c;Sinke et al, 2012b) and the reduction of multisensory facilitation in speech perception , we expected global effects related to the behavior and the EEG signal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subjects tend to report the occurrence of two flashes even though only one was presented. Regarding this effect the two mentioned studies found opposite Frontiers in Human Neuroscience www.frontiersin.org effects: whereas reported an increased number of illusions in seven grapheme-color synesthetes, Neufeld et al (2012c) found a decrease in 18 synesthetic subjects with GCS and/or auditory-visual synesthesia. The third study dedicated to this issue focused on two different multimodal effects .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The second possibility is that previously described deficits in multisensory integration of synesthesia subjects (Neufeld et al, 2012c;Sinke et al, 2012b) are related to early processing stages involving a more basal stimulus analysis than the semantic integration/matching, which relies on the conceptual knowledge.…”

Section: Reaction Time M(sd) Msmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent research suggests synesthesia to be an extreme form of multisensory processing within a continuous spectrum of normal perceptual processes involving multiple senses (Bien et al, 2012). Following this point of view it is not surprising that synesthetes also show differences in multisensory processing not only restricted to the inducerconcurrent sensory modalities Neufeld et al, 2012c;Sinke et al, 2012b) and that these differences are similar for both grapheme-color and audio-visual synesthetes (Neufeld et al, 2012c;Sinke et al, 2012b) indicating common sensory effects for different synesthesia phenotypes. Synesthesia is therefore not only characterized by specific synesthetic perception but rather these perceptions may be a tip of the iceberg indicating more global changes in sensory processing that are not necessary related to a specific inducer-concurrent coupling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To our knowledge, so far only three studies analyzed multimodal integration processes in synesthetes beyond the synesthetic perception Neufeld et al, 2012c;Sinke et al, 2012b). Two of them focused on so-called double-flash illusion as described by Shams et al (2000), in which a short flash is presented together with two short beep sounds while subjects have to state the number of perceived flashes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Section: Discussionmentioning

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Section: Introductionmentioning

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Section: Reaction Time M(sd) Msmentioning

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Multisensory Perception

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There has been a huge growth of interest in the topic of multisensory perception over the past half century. The majority of this research has focused on the spatial senses of vision, audition, and touch. Multisensory interactions would appear to be the norm, not the exception. Cross‐modal interactions (which include examples of multisensory integration) are influenced by stimulus timing. Interactions between the senses tend to be maximal when the component stimuli fall within the temporal window of integration that is approximately centered on simultaneity. Spatial coincidence between component stimuli modulates multisensory integration only under conditions of target location uncertainty and/or when space is somehow relevant to the participant's task. Bayesian decision theory has largely replaced previous accounts of why the senses interact in quite the way that they do, and can explain why one sense often dominates over the others. The study of interactions between the senses is now a core component of research into perception both in humans and increasingly in other species as well.

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Musicians have enhanced audiovisual multisensory binding: experience-dependent effects in the double-flash illusion

Bidelman

2016

Exp Brain Res

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Musical training is associated with behavioral and neurophysiological enhancements in auditory processing for both musical and nonmusical sounds (e.g., speech). Yet, whether the benefits of musicianship extend beyond enhancements to auditory-specific skills and impact multisensory (e.g., audiovisual) processing has yet to be fully validated. Here, we investigated multisensory integration of auditory and visual information in musicians and nonmusicians using a double-flash illusion, whereby the presentation of multiple auditory stimuli (beeps) concurrent with a single visual object (flash) induces an illusory perception of multiple flashes. We parametrically varied the onset asynchrony between auditory and visual events (leads and lags of ±300 ms) to quantify participants' "temporal window" of integration, i.e., stimuli in which auditory and visual cues were fused into a single percept. Results show that musically trained individuals were both faster and more accurate at processing concurrent audiovisual cues than their nonmusician peers; nonmusicians had a higher susceptibility for responding to audiovisual illusions and perceived double flashes over an extended range of onset asynchronies compared to trained musicians. Moreover, temporal window estimates indicated that musicians' windows (<100 ms) were ~2-3× shorter than nonmusicians' (~200 ms), suggesting more refined multisensory integration and audiovisual binding. Collectively, findings indicate a more refined binding of auditory and visual cues in musically trained individuals. We conclude that experience-dependent plasticity of intensive musical experience extends beyond simple listening skills, improving multimodal processing and the integration of multiple sensory systems in a domain-general manner.

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Reduced audio–visual integration in synaesthetes indicated by the double-flash illusion

Cited by 37 publications

References 39 publications

Developing Synaesthesia

Developing Synaesthesia

Multisensory Perception

Musicians have enhanced audiovisual multisensory binding: experience-dependent effects in the double-flash illusion

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