Sensory Loss Enhances Multisensory Integration Performance

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.1101/483586 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Moa G. Peter ◽

Danja K. Porada ◽

Christina Regenbogen ◽

Mats J. Olsson ◽

Johan N. Lundström

Keyword(s):

Multisensory Integration ◽

Sensory Deprivation ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Object Identification ◽

Sensory Loss ◽

Multisensory Perception ◽

Compensatory Mechanisms ◽

Temporal Binding ◽

Temporal Binding Window ◽

Olfactory Sense

ABSTRACTAuditory and visual sensory loss has repeatedly been shown to alter abilities in remaining sensory modalities. It is, however, unclear whether sensory loss also impacts multisensory integration; an ability that is fundamental for the perception of the world around us. We determined effects of olfactory sensory deprivation on multisensory perception by assessing temporal as well as semantic aspects of audio-visual integration in 37 individuals with anosmia (complete olfactory sensory loss) and 37 healthy, matched controls. Participants performed a simultaneity judgement task to determine the temporal binding window, and a multisensory object identification task with individually degraded, dynamic visual, auditory, and audio-visual stimuli. Individuals with anosmia demonstrated an increased ability to detect multisensory temporal asynchronies, represented by a narrowing of the audio-visual temporal binding window. Furthermore, individuals with congenital, but not acquired, anosmia demonstrated indications of greater benefits from bimodal, as compared to unimodal, stimulus presentation when faced with degraded, semantic information. This suggests that the absence of the olfactory sense alters multisensory integration of remaining senses by sharpening the perception of cross-modal temporal violations, independent of sensory loss etiology. In addition, congenital sensory loss may further lead to increased gain from multisensory, compared to unisensory, information. Taken together, multisensory compensatory mechanisms at different levels of perceptual complexity are present in individuals with anosmia.

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Bayesian causal inference modeling of attentional effects on the temporal binding window of multisensory integration

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/19.10.19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (10) ◽

pp. 19

Author(s):

Leslie D Kwakye ◽

Victoria Fisher ◽

Margaret Jackson ◽

Oona Jung-Beeman

Keyword(s):

Causal Inference ◽

Multisensory Integration ◽

Temporal Binding ◽

Temporal Binding Window

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Reduced Temporal Sensitivity in Obesity: Evidence From a Simultaneity Judgement Task

Multisensory Research ◽

10.1163/22134808-20201501 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 (7) ◽

pp. 777-791

Author(s):

Sofia Tagini ◽

Federica Scarpina ◽

Massimo Scacchi ◽

Alessandro Mauro ◽

Massimiliano Zampini

Keyword(s):

Multisensory Integration ◽

Temporal Discrimination ◽

Preliminary Evidence ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Temporal Binding ◽

Temporal Binding Window ◽

Audiovisual Asynchrony

Abstract Preliminary evidence showed a reduced temporal sensitivity (i.e., larger temporal binding window) to audiovisual asynchrony in obesity. Our aim was to extend this investigation to visuotactile stimuli, comparing individuals of healthy weight and with obesity in a simultaneity judgment task. We verified that individuals with obesity had a larger temporal binding window than healthy-weight individuals, meaning that they tend to integrate visuotactile stimuli over an extended range of stimulus onset asynchronies. We point out that our finding gives evidence in support of a more pervasive impairment of the temporal discrimination of co-occurrent stimuli, which might affect multisensory integration in obesity. We discuss our results referring to the possible role of atypical oscillatory neural activity and structural anomalies in affecting the perception of simultaneity between multisensory stimuli in obesity. Finally, we highlight the urgency of a deeper understanding of multisensory integration in obesity at least for two reasons. First, multisensory bodily illusions might be used to manipulate body dissatisfaction in obesity. Second, multisensory integration anomalies in obesity might lead to a dissimilar perception of food, encouraging overeating behaviours.

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Atypical Multisensory Integration and the Temporal Binding Window in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-020-04452-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (11) ◽

pp. 3944-3956 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sayaka Kawakami ◽

Shota Uono ◽

Sadao Otsuka ◽

Sayaka Yoshimura ◽

Shuo Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Multisensory Integration ◽

Temporal Order Judgment ◽

Multisensory Processing ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Temporal Binding ◽

Adults With Autism ◽

Temporal Binding Window

Abstract The present study examined the relationship between multisensory integration and the temporal binding window (TBW) for multisensory processing in adults with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The ASD group was less likely than the typically developing group to perceive an illusory flash induced by multisensory integration during a sound-induced flash illusion (SIFI) task. Although both groups showed comparable TBWs during the multisensory temporal order judgment task, correlation analyses and Bayes factors provided moderate evidence that the reduced SIFI susceptibility was associated with the narrow TBW in the ASD group. These results suggest that the individuals with ASD exhibited atypical multisensory integration and that individual differences in the efficacy of this process might be affected by the temporal processing of multisensory information.

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On the Temporal Precision of Thought: Individual Differences in the Multisensory Temporal Binding Window Predict Performance on Verbal and Nonverbal Problem Solving Tasks

Multisensory Research ◽

10.1163/22134808-00002532 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (8) ◽

pp. 679-701 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Leor Zmigrod ◽

Sharon Zmigrod

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Multisensory Perception ◽

Temporal Binding ◽

Temporal Precision ◽

Creative Behavior ◽

Visual Inputs ◽

Temporal Binding Window ◽

Remote Associates Test ◽

Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices

Although psychology is greatly preoccupied by the tight link between the way that individuals perceive the world and their intelligent, creative behavior, there is little experimental work on the relationship between individual differences in perception and cognitive ability in healthy populations. Here, individual differences in problem solving ability were examined in relation to multisensory perception as measured by tolerance for temporal asynchrony between auditory and visual inputs, i.e., the multisensory temporal binding window. The results demonstrated that enhanced performance in both verbal and nonverbal problem solving tasks (the Remote Associates Test and Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices Task) is predicted by a narrower audio-visual temporal binding window, which reflects greater sensitivity to subtle discrepancies in sensory inputs. This suggests that the precision of individuals’ temporal window of multisensory integration might mirror their capacities for complex reasoning and thus the precision of their thoughts.

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Sensory Loss and Delirium Among Medicare Beneficiaries

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2890 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 797-797

Author(s):

Emmanuel Garcia Morales ◽

Nicholas Reed

Keyword(s):

Claims Data ◽

Sensory Deprivation ◽

Vision Impairment ◽

Sensory Loss ◽

Future Research ◽

Sensory Impairment ◽

Medicare Beneficiaries ◽

Increase Risk ◽

The Impact ◽

Dual Sensory Impairment

Abstract Sensory impairment is prevalent among older adults and may increase risk for delirium via mechanisms including sensory deprivation and poor communication which may result in confusion and agitation. In the Medicare Current Beneficiary Study (MCBS), delirium was measured using a validated algorithm of claims data. Sensory impairment was defined as any self-reported trouble hearing or seeing, with the use of aids, and was categorized as no impairment, hearing impairment only (HI), vision impairment only (VI), and dual sensory impairment (DSI). Among, 3,240 hospitalized participants in 2016-2017, 346 (10.7%) experienced delirium. In a model adjusted for socio-demographic and health characteristics, those with HI only, VI only, and DSI had 0.84 (95% CI: 0.6-1.3), 1.1 (95% CI 0.7-1.7), and 1.5 (95% CI 1.0-2.1) times the odds of experiencing delirium compared to those without sensory impairment. Future research should focus on mechanisms underlying association and determine the impact of treatment of sensory loss.

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Embodied precision: Intranasal oxytocin modulates multisensory integration

10.1101/361261 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Crucianelli ◽

Yannis Paloyelis ◽

Lucia Ricciardi ◽

Paul M Jenkinson ◽

Aikaterini Fotopoulou

Keyword(s):

Multisensory Integration ◽

Tactile Stimulation ◽

Estimation Error ◽

The Body ◽

Multisensory Perception ◽

Subjective Feeling ◽

Rubber Hand ◽

Perceptual Inference ◽

Double Blind ◽

Multisensory Input

AbstractMultisensory integration processes are fundamental to our sense of self as embodied beings. Bodily illusions, such as the rubber hand illusion (RHI) and the size-weight illusion (SWI), allow us to investigate how the brain resolves conflicting multisensory evidence during perceptual inference in relation to different facets of body representation. In the RHI, synchronous tactile stimulation of a participant’s hidden hand and a visible rubber hand creates illusory bodily ownership; in the SWI, the perceived size of the body can modulate the estimated weight of external objects. According to Bayesian models, such illusions arise as an attempt to explain the causes of multisensory perception and may reflect the attenuation of somatosensory precision, which is required to resolve perceptual hypotheses about conflicting multisensory input. Recent hypotheses propose that the precision or salience of sensorimotor representations is determined by modulators of synaptic gain, like dopamine, acetylcholine and oxytocin. However, these neuromodulatory hypotheses have not been tested in the context of embodied multisensory integration. The present, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossed-over study (N = 41 healthy volunteers) aimed to investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin (IN-OT) on multisensory integration processes, tested by means of the RHI and the SWI. Results showed that IN-OT enhanced the subjective feeling of ownership in the RHI, only when synchronous tactile stimulation was involved. Furthermore, IN-OT increased the embodied version of the SWI (quantified as weight estimation error). These findings suggest that oxytocin might modulate processes of visuo-tactile multisensory integration by increasing the precision of top-down signals against bottom-up sensory input.

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Selective enhancement of object representations through multisensory integration

10.1101/740555 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David A. Tovar ◽

Micah M. Murray ◽

Mark T. Wallace

Keyword(s):

Multisensory Integration ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Building Blocks ◽

Object Representations ◽

The Individual ◽

And Behavior ◽

Living Objects ◽

Selective Enhancement ◽

The Brain

AbstractObjects are the fundamental building blocks of how we create a representation of the external world. One major distinction amongst objects is between those that are animate versus inanimate. Many objects are specified by more than a single sense, yet the nature by which multisensory objects are represented by the brain remains poorly understood. Using representational similarity analysis of human EEG signals, we show enhanced encoding of audiovisual objects when compared to their corresponding visual and auditory objects. Surprisingly, we discovered the often-found processing advantages for animate objects was not evident in a multisensory context due to greater neural enhancement of inanimate objects—the more weakly encoded objects under unisensory conditions. Further analysis showed that the selective enhancement of inanimate audiovisual objects corresponded with an increase in shared representations across brain areas, suggesting that neural enhancement was mediated by multisensory integration. Moreover, a distance-to-bound analysis provided critical links between neural findings and behavior. Improvements in neural decoding at the individual exemplar level for audiovisual inanimate objects predicted reaction time differences between multisensory and unisensory presentations during a go/no-go animate categorization task. Interestingly, links between neural activity and behavioral measures were most prominent 100 to 200ms and 350 to 500ms after stimulus presentation, corresponding to time periods associated with sensory evidence accumulation and decision-making, respectively. Collectively, these findings provide key insights into a fundamental process the brain uses to maximize information it captures across sensory systems to perform object recognition.Significance StatementOur world is filled with an ever-changing milieu of sensory information that we are able to seamlessly transform into meaningful perceptual experience. We accomplish this feat by combining different features from our senses to construct objects. However, despite the fact that our senses do not work in isolation but rather in concert with each other, little is known about how the brain combines the senses together to form object representations. Here, we used EEG and machine learning to study how the brain processes auditory, visual, and audiovisual objects. Surprisingly, we found that non-living objects, the objects which were more difficult to process with one sense alone, benefited the most from engaging multiple senses.

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Changes in temporal binding related to decreased vestibular input

Seeing and Perceiving ◽

10.1163/187847612x647397 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 25 (0) ◽

pp. 107

Author(s):

Nai-Yuan Nicholas Chang ◽

Alex K. Malone ◽

Timothy E. Hullar

Keyword(s):

Vertical Axis ◽

Normal Subjects ◽

Head Movements ◽

Whole Body ◽

The Novel ◽

Vestibular Input ◽

Temporal Binding ◽

Sensory Stimuli ◽

Vestibular Hypofunction ◽

Temporal Binding Window

Imbalance among patients with vestibular hypofunction has been related to inadequate compensatory eye movements in response to head movements. However, symptoms of imbalance might also occur due a temporal mismatch between vestibular and other balance-related sensory cues. This temporal mismatch could be reflected in a widened temporal binding window (TBW), or the length of time over which simultaneous sensory stimuli may be offset and still perceived as simultaneous. We hypothesized that decreased vestibular input would lead to a widening of the temporal binding window. We performed whole-body rotations about the earth-vertical axis following a sinusoidal trajectory at 0.5 Hz with a peak velocity of 60°/s in four normal subjects. Dichotic auditory clicks were presented through headphones at various phases relative to the rotations. Subjects were asked to indicate whether the cues were synchronous or asynchronous and the TBW was calculated. We then simulated decreased vestibular input by rotating at diminished peak velocities of 48, 24 and 12°/s in four normal subjects. TBW was calculated between ±1 SD away from the mean on the psychometric curve. We found that the TBW increases as amplitude of rotation decreases. Average TBW of 251 ms at 60°/s increased to 309 ms at 12°/s. This result leads to the novel conclusion that changes in temporal processing may be a mechanism for imbalance in patients with vestibular hypofunction.

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