Traditionally, research on perception and sensory systems has considered the senses as independent and modular functions that only converge after sufficient processing in unisensory areas. Recently, however, that view has been called into question with a number of demonstrations of multisensory interactions that may occur as early as primary cortex. In the following studies, I demonstrate evidence for early and remarkably content-specific multisensory interactions. First, I demonstrate that auditory influences on visual flicker detection which critically depend on stimulus frequency, eccentricity, and temporal correspondence. Next, I extend my investigation of early multisensory integration processes by exploring how visual processing of speech includes rapid and highly specific exchanges of information. Finally, I demonstrate a novel multivariate decoding technique using deep recurrent convolutional neural networks that allows further insight into the dynamic relationship between neurophysiological processes and perception. Taken together, this research represents a radical departure from the traditional view of multisensory perception by highlighting the strikingly early nature of multisensory interactions as well as novel techniques to further explore them.

Last modified

• 04/16/2018

Creator

• L. Jacob Zweig

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N2SQ5S

Subject

• Psychology

Keyword

• Cognitive psychology

Date created

• 2017-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright