The change of auditory motion detection depending on the direction of visually induced self-motion
Poster Presentation

Wataru Teramoto
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Hiroshi Watanabe
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Hiroyuki Umemura
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

     Abstract ID Number: 140
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 19, 2006
     Presentation date: 06/19/2006 10:00 AM in Hamilton Building, Foyer
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
We investigated the influence of large-field visual motion on the detection performance of auditory motion. Several studies have demonstrated that local visual motion (i.e. object-motion) captures the perceived direction of auditory motion. However, little is known about the influence of global visual motion such that self-motion perception is induced on auditory motion perception. In the present study we used Gaussian white-noise filtered with head-related transfer functions as auditory stimuli. They were virtually presented in observers’ back space, moving leftward or rightward from just behind their heads at various constant speeds, while large-field visual motion was continuously presented and compelled observers to perceive self-motion (either yaw-axis or pitch-axis circular vection). Observers were requested to judge the moving direction of the auditory stimuli as quickly and accurately as possible. As a result, auditory stimuli moving leftward were detected more quickly and accurately than those moving rightward when rightward visual motion was presented while inducing leftward self-motion, and vice versa. There was no difference between upward and downward visual motion conditions. The implications of these results are discussed in light of the contribution of self-motion mechanism to auditory spatiotemporal processing.