Sound facilitates visual learning.

Full Abstract

Numerous studies show that practice can result in performance improvements on low-level visual perceptual tasks [1-5]. However, such learning is characteristically difficult and slow, requiring many days of training [6-8]. Here, we show that a multisensory audiovisual training procedure facilitates visual learning and results in significantly faster learning than unisensory visual training. We trained one group of subjects with an audiovisual motion-detection task and a second group with a visual motion-detection task, and compared performance on trials containing only visual signals across ten days of training. Whereas observers in both groups showed improvements of visual sensitivity with training, subjects trained with multisensory stimuli showed significantly more learning both within and across training sessions. These benefits of multisensory training are particularly surprising given that the learning of visual motion stimuli is generally thought to be mediated by low-level visual brain areas [6, 9, 10]. Although crossmodal interactions are ubiquitous in human perceptual processing [11-13], the contribution of crossmodal information to perceptual learning has not been studied previously. Our results show that multisensory interactions can be exploited to yield more efficient learning of sensory information and suggest that multisensory training programs would be most effective for the acquisition of new skills.

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Author information

Author/s: Seitz, Aaron R (AR); Kim, Robyn (R); Shams, Ladan (L);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. aseitz(-atsign-)bu.edu

Grants: R01EY015980-01 (Agency:NEI NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Current biology : CB (Curr Biol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jul; vol 16 (issue 14) : pp 1422-7

Dates: Created 2006/07/24; Completed 2006/09/20; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 16860741, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Learning - physiology
Photic Stimulation
Sound
Visual Perception

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