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Enhanced Cross-Audiovisual Perception in High-Level Martial Arts Routine Athletes Stems from Increased Automatic
Xiaohan Wang1, Zeshuai Wang1, Ya Gao2
1School of Physical Education and Sports Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215021, China.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 28, 2025
Summary
High-level martial arts athletes show superior audiovisual integration due to enhanced automatic auditory processing, not just alerting effects. Their training improves working memory and information inhibition, underpinning their multisensory advantage.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Human Motor Control
- Sensory Integration
Background:
- Multisensory integration is vital for cognitive functions, particularly in rapid audiovisual processing.
- Expertise in tasks demanding cue integration, like martial arts, may confer enhanced cross-modal abilities.
- The role of automatic auditory processing in expert audiovisual integration remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if high-level martial arts athletes exhibit an expert advantage in audiovisual integration.
- To determine if this advantage stems from enhanced automatic auditory processing or an alerting effect.
- To examine the impact of training on working memory and inhibitory control in multisensory tasks.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments involving 165 participants (martial arts athletes vs. control group).
- Cross-audiovisual Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) paradigm to assess target identification accuracy.
- Manipulation of auditory stimulus synchronicity and surprise testing to probe automatic processing and working memory.
Main Results:
- Martial arts athletes showed significantly higher accuracy, especially in incongruent audiovisual conditions (lag3 & lag8).
- No group difference was found when manipulating auditory stimulus synchronicity, ruling out an alerting effect.
- Athletes performed better on surprise tests of unexpected auditory stimuli, indicating enhanced automatic processing and improved working memory re-selection.
Conclusions:
- An expert advantage in cross-audiovisual integration exists in martial arts athletes, independent of auditory alerting.
- Enhanced automatic auditory processing capacity underpins this multisensory integration advantage.
- Long-term martial arts training improves working memory efficiency and the ability to inhibit conflicting information.
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