Spatial remapping in the audio-tactile ventriloquism effect: a TMS investigation on the role of the ventral intraparietal area.

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatial remapping in the audio-tactile ventriloquism effect: a TMS investigation on the role of the ventral intraparietal area.

AU - Renzi, Chiara

AU - Bruns, Patrick

AU - Heise, Kirstin-Friederike

AU - Zimerman, Maximo

AU - Feldheim, Jan-Frederik

AU - Hummel, Friedhelm

AU - Röder, Brigitte

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Previous studies have suggested that the putative human homologue of the ventral intraparietal area (hVIP) is crucially involved in the remapping of tactile information into external spatial coordinates and in the realignment of tactile and visual maps. It is unclear, however, whether hVIP is critical for the remapping process during audio-tactile cross-modal spatial interactions. The audio-tactile ventriloquism effect, where the perceived location of a sound is shifted toward the location of a synchronous but spatially disparate tactile stimulus, was used to probe spatial interactions in audio-tactile processing. Eighteen healthy volunteers were asked to report the perceived location of brief auditory stimuli presented from three different locations (left, center, and right). Auditory stimuli were presented either alone (unimodal stimuli) or concurrently to a spatially discrepant tactile stimulus applied to the left or right index finger (bimodal stimuli), with the hands adopting either an uncrossed or a crossed posture. Single pulses of TMS were delivered over the hVIP or a control site (primary somatosensory cortex, SI) 80 msec after trial onset. TMS to the hVIP, compared with the control SI-TMS, interfered with the remapping of touch into external space, suggesting that hVIP is crucially involved in transforming spatial reference frames across audition and touch.

AB - Previous studies have suggested that the putative human homologue of the ventral intraparietal area (hVIP) is crucially involved in the remapping of tactile information into external spatial coordinates and in the realignment of tactile and visual maps. It is unclear, however, whether hVIP is critical for the remapping process during audio-tactile cross-modal spatial interactions. The audio-tactile ventriloquism effect, where the perceived location of a sound is shifted toward the location of a synchronous but spatially disparate tactile stimulus, was used to probe spatial interactions in audio-tactile processing. Eighteen healthy volunteers were asked to report the perceived location of brief auditory stimuli presented from three different locations (left, center, and right). Auditory stimuli were presented either alone (unimodal stimuli) or concurrently to a spatially discrepant tactile stimulus applied to the left or right index finger (bimodal stimuli), with the hands adopting either an uncrossed or a crossed posture. Single pulses of TMS were delivered over the hVIP or a control site (primary somatosensory cortex, SI) 80 msec after trial onset. TMS to the hVIP, compared with the control SI-TMS, interfered with the remapping of touch into external space, suggesting that hVIP is crucially involved in transforming spatial reference frames across audition and touch.

KW - Acoustic Stimulation

KW - Adult

KW - Analysis of Variance

KW - Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory

KW - Female

KW - Functional Laterality

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Neural Pathways

KW - Parietal Lobe

KW - Photic Stimulation

KW - Psychomotor Performance

KW - Reaction Time

KW - Sound Localization

KW - Space Perception

KW - Touch Perception

KW - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1162/jocn_a_00362

DO - 10.1162/jocn_a_00362

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 23363411

VL - 25

SP - 790

EP - 801

JO - J COGNITIVE NEUROSCI

JF - J COGNITIVE NEUROSCI

SN - 0898-929X

IS - 5

M1 - 5

ER -