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Updated: Mar 30, 2026
11:15
fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
Published on: May 23, 2017
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Auditory scene analysis and sonified visual images. Does consonance negatively impact on object formation when using
David J Brown1, Andrew J R Simpson2, Michael J Proulx3
1Crossmodal Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Bath Bath, UK ; Biological and Experimental Psychology Group, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London London, UK.
Frontiers in Psychology
|November 4, 2015
Summary
When visual input is limited, auditory representations of objects can be hindered by harmonic consonance. This suggests early auditory processing, not additional sensory input, shapes object perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Perception
- Sensory Substitution
Background:
- The brain must represent and identify perceptual objects, relying on hearing and touch when vision is impaired.
- Compensatory techniques use tactile or auditory systems to substitute for vision.
- Visual-to-auditory sonification creates auditory representations that listeners must integrate into object-based perceptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the auditory system in object integration during sensory substitution.
- To determine if principles of auditory scene analysis apply to sonified visual object representations.
- To test if auditory feature-based representations are confounded by harmonic consonance.
Main Methods:
- Used coarse sonified images in a two-tone discrimination task.
- Tested 36 listeners on an object recognition task.
- Investigated the effect of harmonic consonance and congruent audio-visual information.
Main Results:
- Listeners performed worse on object recognition tasks when auditory representations were harmonically consonant.
- Congruent audio-visual information did not negate the negative impact of harmonic conflict.
- Early auditory processes of harmonic grouping appear to dominate object formation.
Conclusions:
- Harmonic consonance in auditory representations negatively impacts visual object recognition.
- Auditory scene analysis principles, specifically harmonic grouping, influence object formation.
- Signal complexity and additional sensory information have limited effects on this process.
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