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Tactile capture of auditory localization is modulated by hand posture
Patrick Bruns1, Brigitte Röder
1Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. patrick.bruns@uni-hamburg.de
Experimental Psychology
|February 25, 2010
Summary
The ventriloquism effect, where sound is perceived closer to touch, is influenced by hand posture. This audio-tactile illusion primarily uses an external coordinate system, not the body
Area of Science:
- Multisensory integration
- Auditory perception
- Somatosensation
Background:
- The ventriloquism effect describes auditory mislocalization towards visual stimuli.
- Recent studies indicate a similar audio-tactile ventriloquism effect.
- The influence of body posture on this effect remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the audio-tactile ventriloquism effect is modulated by hand posture.
- To determine the coordinate system (external vs. anatomical) used by the audio-tactile ventriloquism effect.
Main Methods:
- Participants localized auditory stimuli presented alone or with concurrent tactile stimuli.
- Tactile stimuli were applied to fingertips on the left and right sides.
- The experiment was conducted with both uncrossed and crossed-hand postures.
Main Results:
- Auditory localization was biased towards the tactile stimulus location in bimodal trials.
- This audio-tactile bias was reduced but remained significant with a crossed-hands posture.
- The localization shift occurred towards the external tactile location, irrespective of the stimulated hand's anatomical side.
Conclusions:
- The audio-tactile ventriloquism effect is robust and influenced by hand posture.
- The illusion predominantly operates within an external spatial reference frame.
- Findings support the integration of auditory and tactile information in a shared external space.
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