From Senses to Memory During Childhood: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Meta-Analysis Exploring Multisensory...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Multisensory processing enhances adult perception and cognition.
• Limited understanding exists on how multisensory stimuli impact children's working memory (WM) development compared to unisensory stimuli.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the association between multisensory (auditory-visual) processing and WM performance in children (0-15 years).
• To compare WM capacity for audiovisual versus unisensory stimuli after language development.
• To investigate age-related differences in multisensory processing and WM.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search across six major databases (PRISMA guidelines).
• Bayesian meta-analysis and meta-regression of 21 selected studies.
• Inclusion of studies assessing auditory-visual multisensory processing and WM tasks (verbal and motor).

Main Results:

• Decisive evidence supports associations between multisensory reaction times and WM tasks.
• Verbal multisensory stimuli significantly enhance verbally assessed WM capacity more than unisensory stimuli.
• Age moderates the relationship, showing differential contributions of verbal and motor multisensory processing to WM across development.

Conclusions:

• Multisensory processing, especially verbal, plays a crucial role in developing children's working memory.
• Findings suggest educational strategies leveraging multisensory stimuli can improve learning outcomes.
• Age-specific developmental trajectories highlight the nuanced impact of multisensory integration on WM.