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A synchrony-dependent influence of sounds on activity in visual cortex measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

Hartley, Douglas; Wiggins, Ian

Authors



Abstract

Evidence from human neuroimaging and animal electrophysiological studies suggests that signals from different sensory modalities interact early in cortical processing, including in primary sensory cortices. The present study aimed to test whether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an emerging, non-invasive neuroimaging technique, is capable of measuring such multisensory interactions. Specifically, we tested for a modulatory influence of sounds on activity in visual cortex, while varying the temporal synchrony between trains of transient auditory and visual events. Related fMRI studies have consistently reported enhanced activation in response to synchronous compared to asynchronous audiovisual stimulation. Unexpectedly, we found that synchronous sounds significantly reduced the fNIRS response from visual cortex, compared both to asynchronous sounds and to a visual-only baseline. It is possible that this suppressive effect of synchronous sounds reflects the use of an efficacious visual stimulus, chosen for consistency with previous fNIRS studies. Discrepant results may also be explained by differences between studies in how attention was deployed to the auditory and visual modalities. The presence and relative timing of sounds did not significantly affect performance in a simultaneously conducted behavioral task, although the data were suggestive of a positive relationship between the strength of the fNIRS response from visual cortex and the accuracy of visual target detection. Overall, the present findings indicate that fNIRS is capable of measuring multisensory cortical interactions. In multisensory research, fNIRS can offer complementary information to the more established neuroimaging modalities, and may prove advantageous for testing in naturalistic environments and with infant and clinical populations.

Citation

Hartley, D., & Wiggins, I. (2015). A synchrony-dependent influence of sounds on activity in visual cortex measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). PLoS ONE, 10(3), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122862

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 15, 2015
Online Publication Date Mar 31, 2015
Publication Date Mar 31, 2015
Deposit Date Jun 5, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Electronic ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 3
Article Number 0122862
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122862
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1103007
Publisher URL https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122862
PMID 25826284

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