Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior

Abstract Multisensory stimuli speed behavioral responses, but the mechanisms subserving these effects remain disputed. Historically, the observation that multisensory reaction times (RTs) outpace models assuming independent sensory channels has been taken as evidence for multisensory integration (th...

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Autores principales: John Plass, David Brang
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/8c607392f4ab4710839afa50b9f45d90
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:8c607392f4ab4710839afa50b9f45d902021-12-05T12:14:27ZMultisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior10.1038/s41598-021-02566-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/8c607392f4ab4710839afa50b9f45d902021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02566-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Multisensory stimuli speed behavioral responses, but the mechanisms subserving these effects remain disputed. Historically, the observation that multisensory reaction times (RTs) outpace models assuming independent sensory channels has been taken as evidence for multisensory integration (the “redundant target effect”; RTE). However, this interpretation has been challenged by alternative explanations based on stimulus sequence effects, RT variability, and/or negative correlations in unisensory processing. To clarify the mechanisms subserving the RTE, we collected RTs from 78 undergraduates in a multisensory simple RT task. Based on previous neurophysiological findings, we hypothesized that the RTE was unlikely to reflect these alternative mechanisms, and more likely reflected pre-potentiation of sensory responses through crossmodal phase-resetting. Contrary to accounts based on stimulus sequence effects, we found that preceding stimuli explained only 3–9% of the variance in apparent RTEs. Comparing three plausible evidence accumulator models, we found that multisensory RT distributions were best explained by increased sensory evidence at stimulus onset. Because crossmodal phase-resetting increases cortical excitability before sensory input arrives, these results are consistent with a mechanism based on pre-potentiation through phase-resetting. Mathematically, this model entails increasing the prior log-odds of stimulus presence, providing a potential link between neurophysiological, behavioral, and computational accounts of multisensory interactions.John PlassDavid BrangNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
John Plass
David Brang
Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
description Abstract Multisensory stimuli speed behavioral responses, but the mechanisms subserving these effects remain disputed. Historically, the observation that multisensory reaction times (RTs) outpace models assuming independent sensory channels has been taken as evidence for multisensory integration (the “redundant target effect”; RTE). However, this interpretation has been challenged by alternative explanations based on stimulus sequence effects, RT variability, and/or negative correlations in unisensory processing. To clarify the mechanisms subserving the RTE, we collected RTs from 78 undergraduates in a multisensory simple RT task. Based on previous neurophysiological findings, we hypothesized that the RTE was unlikely to reflect these alternative mechanisms, and more likely reflected pre-potentiation of sensory responses through crossmodal phase-resetting. Contrary to accounts based on stimulus sequence effects, we found that preceding stimuli explained only 3–9% of the variance in apparent RTEs. Comparing three plausible evidence accumulator models, we found that multisensory RT distributions were best explained by increased sensory evidence at stimulus onset. Because crossmodal phase-resetting increases cortical excitability before sensory input arrives, these results are consistent with a mechanism based on pre-potentiation through phase-resetting. Mathematically, this model entails increasing the prior log-odds of stimulus presence, providing a potential link between neurophysiological, behavioral, and computational accounts of multisensory interactions.
format article
author John Plass
David Brang
author_facet John Plass
David Brang
author_sort John Plass
title Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
title_short Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
title_full Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
title_fullStr Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
title_full_unstemmed Multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
title_sort multisensory stimuli shift perceptual priors to facilitate rapid behavior
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/8c607392f4ab4710839afa50b9f45d90
work_keys_str_mv AT johnplass multisensorystimulishiftperceptualpriorstofacilitaterapidbehavior
AT davidbrang multisensorystimulishiftperceptualpriorstofacilitaterapidbehavior
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