TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of Selective Spatial Attention on Auditory–Tactile Integration
T2 - An Event-Related Potential Study
AU - An, Weichao
AU - Zhang, Nan
AU - Li, Shengnan
AU - Yu, Yinghua
AU - Wu, Jinglong
AU - Yang, Jiajia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - Background: Auditory–tactile integration is an important research area in multisensory integration. Especially in special environments (e.g., traffic noise and complex work environments), auditory–tactile integration is crucial for human response and decision making. We investigated the influence of attention on the temporal course and spatial distribution of auditory–tactile integration. Methods: Participants received auditory stimuli alone, tactile stimuli alone, and simultaneous auditory and tactile stimuli, which were randomly presented on the left or right side. For each block, participants attended to all stimuli on the designated side and detected uncommon target stimuli while ignoring all stimuli on the other side. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded via 64 scalp electrodes. Integration was quantified by comparing the response to the combined stimulus to the sum of the responses to the auditory and tactile stimuli presented separately. Results: The results demonstrated that compared to the unattended condition, integration occurred earlier and involved more brain regions in the attended condition when the stimulus was presented in the left hemispace. The unattended condition involved a more extensive range of brain regions and occurred earlier than the attended condition when the stimulus was presented in the right hemispace. Conclusions: Attention can modulate auditory–tactile integration and show systematic differences between the left and right hemispaces. These findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of auditory–tactile information processing in the human brain.
AB - Background: Auditory–tactile integration is an important research area in multisensory integration. Especially in special environments (e.g., traffic noise and complex work environments), auditory–tactile integration is crucial for human response and decision making. We investigated the influence of attention on the temporal course and spatial distribution of auditory–tactile integration. Methods: Participants received auditory stimuli alone, tactile stimuli alone, and simultaneous auditory and tactile stimuli, which were randomly presented on the left or right side. For each block, participants attended to all stimuli on the designated side and detected uncommon target stimuli while ignoring all stimuli on the other side. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded via 64 scalp electrodes. Integration was quantified by comparing the response to the combined stimulus to the sum of the responses to the auditory and tactile stimuli presented separately. Results: The results demonstrated that compared to the unattended condition, integration occurred earlier and involved more brain regions in the attended condition when the stimulus was presented in the left hemispace. The unattended condition involved a more extensive range of brain regions and occurred earlier than the attended condition when the stimulus was presented in the right hemispace. Conclusions: Attention can modulate auditory–tactile integration and show systematic differences between the left and right hemispaces. These findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of auditory–tactile information processing in the human brain.
KW - auditory–tactile integration
KW - event-related potential
KW - left–right hemispace differences
KW - selective spatial attention
KW - spatiotemporal distribution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85213426571&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/brainsci14121258
DO - 10.3390/brainsci14121258
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85213426571
SN - 2076-3425
VL - 14
JO - Brain Sciences
JF - Brain Sciences
IS - 12
M1 - 1258
ER -