Enhanced audio-tactile multisensory interaction in a peripersonal task after echolocation.

ABSTRACT: Peripersonal space (PPS) is created by a multisensory interaction between different sensory modalities and can be modified by experience. In this article, we investigated whether an auditory training, inside the peripersonal space area, can modify the PPS around the head in sighted participants. The auditory training was based on echolocation. We measured the participant's reaction times to a tactile stimulation on the neck, while task-irrelevant looming auditory stimuli were presented. Sounds more strongly affect tactile processing when located within a limited distance from the body. We measured spatially dependent audio-tactile interaction as a proxy of PPS representation before and after an echolocation training. We found a significant speeding effect on tactile RTs after echolocation,

SUBMITTER: Tonelli A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6394550 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature