Multisensory integration, aging, and the sound-induced flash illusion.

Abstract

The present study examined age-related differences in multisensory integration and the role of attention in age-related differences in multisensory integration. The sound-induced flash illusion--the misperception of the number of visual flashes due to the simultaneous presentation of a different number of auditory beeps--was used to examine the strength of multisensory integration in older and younger observers. The effects of integration were examined when discriminating 1-3 flashes, 1-3 beeps, or 1-3 flashes presented with 1-3 beeps. Stimulus conditions were blocked according to these conditions with baseline (unisensory) performance assessed during the multisensory block. Older participants demonstrated greater multisensory integration--a greater influence of the beeps when judging the number of visual flashes--than younger observers. In a second experiment, the role of attention was assessed using a go/no-go paradigm. The results of Experiment 2 replicated those of Experiment 1. In addition, the strength of the illusion was modulated by the sensory domain of the go/no-go task, though this did not differ by age group. In the visual go/no-go task we found a decrease in the illusion, yet in the auditory go/no-go task we found an increase in the illusion. These results demonstrate that older individuals exhibit increased multisensory integration compared with younger individuals. Attention was also found to modulate the strength of the sound-induced flash illusion. However, the results also suggest that attention was not likely to be a factor in the age-related differences in multisensory integration.