Audio-Visual Fission Illusion and Individual Alpha Frequency: Perspective on Buergers and Noppeney (2022).

Abstract

Integrating visual and auditory information is an important ability in various cognitive processes, although its neural mechanisms remain unclear. Several studies indicated a close relationship between one's temporal binding window (TBW) for audio-visual interaction and their alpha rhythm in the brain (individual alpha frequency or IAF). A recent study by Buergers and Noppeney [Buergers, S., & Noppeney, U. The role of alpha oscillations in temporal binding within and across the senses. Nature Human Behaviour, 6, 732-742, 2022], however, challenged this view using a new approach to analyze behavioral data. Conforming to the same procedures by Buergers and Noppeney, here, I analyzed the data of my previous study and examined a relationship between TBW and IAF. In contrast to Buergers and Noppeney, a significant correlation was found between occipital IAF and a new behavioral measure of TBW. Some possibilities that caused these opposing results, such as a variability of "alpha band" across studies and a large inter-individual difference in magnitude of the fission illusion, are discussed.