When audition alters vision: an event-related potential study of the cross-modal interactions between faces and voices

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2004-10, Vol.369 (2), p.132-137
• Main Authors: Joassin, F., Maurage, P., Bruyer, R., Crommelinck, M., Campanella, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - methods; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Auditory Perception - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Cross-modal interactions; Electroencephalography; ERPs; Evoked Potentials - physiology; Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision; Face; Faces; Female; Functional Laterality; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Photic Stimulation - methods; Reaction Time - physiology; Time Factors; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Visual Perception - physiology; Voices
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2004.07.067

Ten healthy volunteers took part in this event-related potential (ERP) study aimed at examining the electrophysiological correlates of the cross-modal audio–visual interactions in an identification task. Participants were confronted either to the simultaneous presentation of previously learned faces and voices (audio–visual condition; AV), either to the separate presentation of faces (visual, V) or voices (auditive, A). As expected, an interference effect of audition on vision was observed at a behavioral level, as the bimodal condition was performed more slowly than the visual condition. At the electrophysiological level, the subtraction (AV − (A + V)) gave prominence to three distinct cerebral activities: (1) a central positive/posterior negative wave around 110 ms, (2) a central negative/posterior positive wave around 170 ms, AND (3) a central positive wave around 270 ms. These data suggest that cross-modal cerebral interactions could be independent of behavioral facilitation or interference effects. Moreover, the implication of unimodal and multisensory convergence regions in these results, as suggested by a source localization analysis, is discussed.