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

• DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05469-3
• Publication Date: 2019-01-06T23:24:26Z
• Authors: Alessia Tonelli; Claudio Campus; Andrea Serino; Monica Gori
• Keywords: Human echolocation; Multisensory Integration; Tactile stimuli

Peripersonal space (PPS) is created by a multisensory interaction between different sensory modalities and can be modified experience. In this article, we investigated whether an auditory training, inside the peripersonal area, modify PPS around head in sighted participants. The training was based on echolocation. We measured participant's reaction times to tactile stimulation neck, while task-irrelevant looming stimuli were presented. Sounds more strongly affect processing when located within limited distance from body. spatially dependent audio-tactile as proxy of representation before after echolocation training. found significant speeding effect RTs echolocation, specifically sounds where location task performed. This could not attributed repetition nor shift spatial attention, no changes two control groups participants, who performed either break or temporal (with at same position task). These findings show that affects representation, likely better represent external stimuli, have localized.