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Sounds can affect visual perception mediated primarily by the parvocellular pathway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2010

PHILIP M. JAEKL  and
LAURENCE R. HARRIS
PHILIP M. JAEKL*
Affiliation:
Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
LAURENCE R. HARRIS
Affiliation:
Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
†Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Philip Jaekl, Centre for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, C/Roc Boronat, 138, 08018 Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: phil.jaekl@upf.edu
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Abstract

We investigated the effect of auditory–visual sensory integration on visual tasks that were predominantly dependent on parvocellular processing. These tasks were (i) detecting metacontrast-masked targets and (ii) discriminating orientation differences between high spatial frequency Gabor patch stimuli. Sounds that contained no information relevant to either task were presented before, synchronized with, or after the visual targets, and the results were compared to conditions with no sound. Both tasks used a two-alternative forced choice technique. For detecting metacontrast-masked targets, one interval contained the visual target and both (or neither) intervals contained a sound. Sound–target synchrony within 50 ms lowered luminance thresholds for detecting the presence of a target compared to when no sound occurred or when sound onset preceded target onset. Threshold angles for discriminating the orientation of a Gabor patch consistently increased in the presence of a sound. These results are compatible with sound-induced activity in the parvocellular visual pathway increasing the visibility of flashed targets and hindering orientation discrimination.

Keywords

Auditory–visualMultisensory integrationContrast detectionPerceptual enhancementVentral stream
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 26 , Issue 5-6 , November 2009 , pp. 477 - 486
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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