Diverting attention with tactile stimuli: an MMN study on audiovisual processing

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Diverting attention with tactile stimuli: an MMN study on audiovisual processing Hao T. Ho1*, D. T. Nguyen2, B. Pleger2 and S.A Kotz1 1 Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany 2 Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany Audiovisual processing has recently received increased attention in neuropsychological research. Of particular interest is the question whether the binding of auditory and visual information can occur outside the focus of attention. In this context, the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) proves to be a useful measure as its elicitation has been shown to be mainly unaffected by attention. However, the mere elicitation of the MMN is insufficient to prove that a certain process occurs pre-attentively. In addition, participants’ attention must be directed away from the stimuli at test. This is usually achieved by asking the participants to perform a task in another modality, e.g. reading a book, while being stimulated auditorily. When investigating audiovisual processing, controlling participants' attentional state poses a problem, as conventional methods involve either the auditory or visual modality. Therefore, to divert participants’ attention in an audiovisual MMN experiment we employed tactile stimulation. The tactile stimuli were generated with a 4x4 Grid Braille-Module (ca. 70 mm2) consisting of 16 extendable plastic pins (width: ca. 1mm, height: up to 1.5 mm, not pointy). In four blocks the participants were presented (1) auditory (standards: 400 Hz, 600 Hz; deviants: 480 Hz, 680 Hz), (2) visual (standards: black square, black circle; deviants: grey square, grey circle), and (3-4) audiovisual stimuli (standards: black square + 400 Hz, black circle + 600 Hz; deviants: black square + 600 Hz, black circle + 400 Hz; standards and deviants were then switched) according to an oddball paradigm (85% standards, 15 % deviants). At the same time they performed a one-back task on tactile stimuli (vertical and horizontal lines presented in random order). The participants were instructed to respond as fast as possible whenever a horizontal or vertical line was repeated. In two additional blocks (5-6), the participants carried out a one-back task in the visual and auditory modality, while receiving stimulation in the auditory and visual modality respectively. Similar to the one-back task on tactile stimuli, they had to respond whenever a black square or a black circle was repeated in the case of the visual one-back task. For the auditory one-back task, the participants had to react whenever a tone (400 Hz or 600 Hz) was repeated. The successful diversion of participants’ attention through tactile stimulation may be a new venue for studies that want to explore the pre-attentive nature of audiovisual processing. Conference: MMN 09 Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications, Budapest, Hungary, 4 Apr - 7 Apr, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Presentations Citation: Ho HT, Nguyen DT, Pleger B and Kotz S (2009). Diverting attention with tactile stimuli: an MMN study on audiovisual processing. Conference Abstract: MMN 09 Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.05.103 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Mar 2009; Published Online: 26 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Hao T Ho, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, htho@cbs.mpg.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Hao T Ho D. T Nguyen B. Pleger S.A Kotz Google Hao T Ho D. T Nguyen B. Pleger S.A Kotz Google Scholar Hao T Ho D. T Nguyen B. Pleger S.A Kotz PubMed Hao T Ho D. T Nguyen B. Pleger S.A Kotz Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.