Auditory and visual attention-based apparent motion share functional parallels

Percept Psychophys. 2008 Oct;70(7):1207-16. doi: 10.3758/PP.70.7.1207.

Abstract

A perception of coherent motion can be obtained in an otherwise ambiguous or illusory visual display by directing one's attention to a feature and tracking it. We demonstrate an analogous auditory effect in two separate sets of experiments. The temporal dynamics associated with the attention-dependent auditory motion closely matched those previously reported for attention-based visual motion. Since attention-based motion mechanisms appear to exist in both modalities, we also tested for multimodal (audiovisual) attention-based motion, using stimuli composed of interleaved visual and auditory cues. Although subjects were able to track a trajectory using cues from both modalities, no one spontaneously perceived "multimodal motion" across both visual and auditory cues. Rather, they reported motion perception only within each modality, thereby revealing a spatiotemporal limit on putative cross-modal motion integration. Together, results from these experiments demonstrate the existence of attention-based motion in audition, extending current theories of attention-based mechanisms from visual to auditory systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Attention*
  • Auditory Perception*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Motion Perception*
  • Optical Illusions
  • Time Factors
  • Visual Perception*
  • Young Adult