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Updated: Jun 4, 2026
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A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
Published on: October 29, 2018
Tactile recalibration of auditory spatial representations.
Patrick Bruns1, Charles Spence, Brigitte Röder
1Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. patrick.bruns@uni-hamburg.de
Experimental Brain Research
|February 1, 2011
Summary
The audio-tactile ventriloquism effect causes sounds to be mislocalized towards touch. This study found that adapting to audio-tactile stimuli recalibrates auditory space perception, demonstrating an aftereffect similar to visual illusions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Perception
- Auditory Neuroscience
Background:
- The spatial ventriloquism effect describes auditory mislocalization towards visual stimuli.
- Tactile stimuli also influence auditory localization, primarily in an external coordinate system.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate audio-tactile ventriloquism aftereffects on auditory spatial perception.
- To determine if tactile stimuli induce aftereffects comparable to visual stimuli in auditory localization.
Main Methods:
- Participants completed a relative sound localization task assessing auditory perception.
- Sound localization was measured before and after adaptation to synchronous audio-tactile stimuli with spatial disparity.
- Two experiments were conducted: one with tactile stimuli and one with visual stimuli.
Main Results:
- After audio-tactile adaptation, sound localization shifted towards the location of the preceding tactile stimuli.
- This shift indicates an audio-tactile ventriloquism aftereffect.
- The findings suggest rapid recalibration of auditory space to compensate for spatial discrepancies.
Conclusions:
- An audio-tactile ventriloquism aftereffect exists, similar to audiovisual effects.
- Auditory space perception can be rapidly recalibrated by cross-modal adaptation.
- This recalibration compensates for spatial disparities between audio and tactile inputs.
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