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Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example
Published on: October 24, 2012
Spatial attention can modulate audiovisual integration at multiple cortical and subcortical sites
1Neuroimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. s.fairhall@hsantalucia.it
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|March 24, 2009
Summary
Spatial attention modulates audiovisual speech processing. Focusing on congruent stimuli enhances brain activity in visual and auditory areas, demonstrating a joint interaction for fused perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Sensory Processing
Background:
- The role of attention in multisensory integration (MI) remains unclear, with conflicting evidence regarding automatic versus attention-modulated processes.
- Previous research has not fully elucidated how spatial attention influences the brain's response to congruent audiovisual stimuli.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of spatial attention on the neural processing of congruent audiovisual speech stimuli using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
- To compare brain activity during attended versus unattended multisensory integration under controlled attentional load.
Main Methods:
- fMRI study presenting simultaneous visual streams (speaking lips) and a central audio stream (spoken words).
- Selective attention conditions involved subjects attending to either congruent or incongruent visual streams.
- Meridian mapping and a lateralized 'speaking-lips' localizer identified visual areas and contralateral response regions.
Main Results:
- Attention to congruent audiovisual stimuli significantly increased activation in the superior temporal sulcus, striate and extrastriate visual cortex, and superior colliculus.
- These findings indicate that audiovisual integration and spatial attention interact.
- The interaction influences activity across a broad network including associative regions, early visual cortex, and subcortical structures.
Conclusions:
- Audiovisual integration and spatial attention dynamically interact to shape neural processing.
- This interaction is crucial for the perception of a unified audiovisual percept.
- The findings highlight the involvement of an extensive brain network in attention-modulated multisensory processing.
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