Audiovisual illusion training improves multisensory temporal integration

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition 2023-03, Vol.109, p.103478-103478, Article 103478
• Main Authors: Zhu, Haocheng, Tang, Xiaoyu, Chen, Tingji, Yang, Jiajia, Wang, Aijun, Zhang, Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Auditory Perception; Bayes Theorem; Humans; Illusions; Learning; Multisensory integration; Perceptual sensitivity; Photic Stimulation; Simultaneity judgment; Sound-induced flash illusion; Temporal order judgment; Temporal recalibration; Visual Perception
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103478

•Long-term SiFI training can cause a significant reduction in illusion susceptibility.•More accurate temporal perception is made available by increased perceptual sensitivity.•PSS shifting toward 0 ms and TBW shrinking are indications that perceptual learning can affect the temporal recalibration.•Compared to SJ, TOJ requires more perceptual information to ensure a more accurate evaluation of temporal perception. When we perceive external physical stimuli from the environment, the brain must remain somewhat flexible to unaligned stimuli within a specific range, as multisensory signals are subject to different transmission and processing delays. Recent studies have shown that the width of the ‘temporal binding window (TBW)’ can be reduced by perceptual learning. However, to date, the vast majority of studies examining the mechanisms of perceptual learning have focused on experience-dependent effects, failing to reach a consensus on its relationship with the underlying perception influenced by audiovisual illusion. The sound-induced flash illusion (SiFI) training is a reliable function for improving perceptual sensitivity. The present study utilized the classic auditory-dominated SiFI paradigm with feedback training to investigate the effect of a 5-day SiFI training on multisensory temporal integration, as evaluated by a simultaneity judgment (SJ) task and temporal order judgment (TOJ) task. We demonstrate that audiovisual illusion training enhances multisensory temporal integration precision in the form of (i) the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS) shifts to reality (0 ms) and (ii) a narrowing TBW. The results are consistent with a Bayesian model of causal inference, suggesting that perception learning reduce the susceptibility to SiFI, whilst improving the precision of audiovisual temporal estimation.