Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6026334 | NeuroImage | 2014 | 12 Pages |
â¢We investigated EEG dynamics of cross-sensory integration during time perceptionâ¢Psychometric functions were fitted on behavior using Bayesian graphical modelingâ¢There was strong auditory dominance when subjects judged audiovisual durationâ¢This correlated with audiovisual interregional alpha (8-12 Hz) phase synchronyâ¢Single-trial alpha phase synchrony predicted the degree of psychometric lapsing
In a continuously changing environment, time is a key property that tells us whether information from the different senses belongs together. Yet, little is known about how the brain integrates temporal information across sensory modalities. Using high-density EEG combined with a novel psychometric timing task in which human subjects evaluated durations of audiovisual stimuli, we show that the strength of alpha-band (8-12Â Hz) phase synchrony between localizer-defined auditory and visual regions depended on cross-modal attention: during encoding of a constant 500Â ms standard interval, audiovisual alpha synchrony decreased when subjects attended audition while ignoring vision, compared to when they attended both modalities. In addition, alpha connectivity during a variable target interval predicted the degree to which auditory stimulus duration biased time estimation while attending vision. This cross-modal interference effect was estimated using a hierarchical Bayesian model of a psychometric function that also provided an estimate of each individual's tendency to exhibit attention lapses. This lapse rate, in turn, was predicted by single-trial estimates of the stability of interregional alpha synchrony: when attending to both modalities, trials with greater stability in patterns of connectivity were characterized by reduced contamination by lapses. Together, these results provide new insights into a functional role of the coupling of alpha phase dynamics between sensory cortices in integrating cross-modal information over time.