Electrophysiological correlates of multisensory integration of ecologically valid audiovisual events
Poster Presentation

Jeroen Stekelenburg
Psychonomics Laboratory, Tilburg University

Jean Vroomen
Psychonomics Laboratory, Tilburg University

     Abstract ID Number: 62
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 16, 2006
     Presentation date: 06/19/2006 4:00 PM in Hamilton Building, Foyer
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
We investigated whether the neural mechanisms underlying the integration of auditory speech sounds and visual articulatory gestures are different from those underlying audiovisual integration of ecologically valid non-speech objects. Event related potentials (ERPs) of the syllables /bi/ and /fu/ were compared with ERPs evoked by the clapping of hands and the tapping of a spoon. Experiment 1 demonstrated that both speech and non-speech stimuli showed similar speeding up and amplitude depression of auditory N1 if the sounds were combined with visually congruent information. Experiment 2 explored which information of the visual stimulus – its content, its potential to predict when the sound is to occur, or both - was crucial for these effects. For speech and non-speech stimuli alike, visually congruent and incongruent information evoked a speeding up and amplitude depression of auditory N1, thus demonstrating that timing and not content was crucial. Visual speeding up and amplitude depression of auditory N1 is thus not a speech-specific phenomenon.