Multisensory temporal integration: Task and stimulus dependencies

By Ryan A. Stevenson, Mark T. Wallace. 2013

238 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The ability of human sensory systems to integrate information across the different modalities provides a wide range of behavioral and perceptual benefits. This integration process is dependent upon the temporal relationship of the different sensory signals, with stimuli occurring close together in time typically resulting in the largest behavior changes. The range of temporal intervals over which such benefits are seen is typically referred to as the temporal binding window (TBW). Given the importance of temporal factors in multisensory integration under both normal and atypical circumstances such as autism and dyslexia, the TBW has been measured with a variety of experimental protocols that differ according to criterion, task, and stimulus type, making comparisons across experiments difficult. In the current study, we attempt to elucidate the role that these various factors play in the measurement of this important construct. The results show a strong effect of stimulus type, with the TBW assessed with speech stimuli being both larger and more symmetrical than that seen using simple and complex non-speech stimuli. These effects are robust across task and statistical criteria and are highly consistent within individuals, suggesting substantial overlap in the neural and cognitive operations that govern multisensory temporal processes.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Sensory Systems

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Citations in the corpus

Multisensory Processes: A Balancing Act across the Lifespan (2016, background): “Furthermore, it has been shown that the TBW differs for different stimuli and tasks in infants [32,33], children [49], and adults [45], suggesting a dependence not only on physical stimulus characteristics but also on learned associations.”
The temporal binding window for audiovisual speech: Children are like little adults (2016, background): “…(e.g., Colonius & Diederich, 2004; Hairston, Burdette, Flowers, Wood, & Wallace, 2005; Lewkowicz, 2000; Powers, Hillock, & Wallace, 2009; R. A. Stevenson & Wallace, 2013; R. A. Stevenson, Wilson, Powers, & Wallace, 2013; R. A. Stevenson, Zemtsov, & Wallace, 2012; Wallace & Stevenson, 2014).”
The Brain’s Tendency to Bind Audiovisual Signals Is Stable but Not General (2016, unknown): “…across individuals in any given task, such interactions can correlate strongly across audiovisual tasks within individuals (Stevenson et al., 2012; Stevenson & Wallace, 2013); however, no previous study has used analytic methods capable of teasing apart these two possible sources of variability.”
Multisensory integration: flexible use of general operations (2014, unknown): “Furthermore, the importance of temporal proximity seems to differ across stimulus types and tasks (Stevenson and Wallace, 2013; van Atteveldt et al., 2007a).”
The COGs (context, object, and goals) in multisensory processing (2016, background): “While expectations (e.g. Tuomainen et al. 2005; Stevenson and Wallace 2013) and long-term experiences (e.”
Developmental changes in the multisensory temporal binding window persist into adolescence (2012, result): “In accordance with this view, a recent study has examined the multisensory temporal window across stimulus complexity and task, and has found substantial differences in window size as a function of stimulus and task (Stevenson and Wallace, 2012).”
Identifying and Quantifying Multisensory Integration: A Tutorial Review (2014, methodology): “Indeed, studies have used such tasks to examine the multisensory temporal binding window (Foss-Feig et al. 2010; Colonius et al. 2009; Stevenson et al. 2014; Stevenson and Wallace 2013; Stevenson et al. 2012c; Hairston et al. 2005; Powers et al. 2009; 2012; Stevenson et al. 2013; Dixon and Spitz 198”
The Construct of the Multisensory Temporal Binding Window and its Dysregulation in Developmental Disabilities (2014, background): “…time within which multisensory stimuli are highly likely to be perceptually bound or integrated (Conrey & Pisoni, 2004, 2006; Diederich & Colonius, 2009; Hairston et al., 2003, 2005; Stevenson & Wallace, 2013; Stevenson, Wallace & Altieri, 2014; van Wassenhove et al., 2007; van Eijk et al., 2008).”