title: Multisensory integration: central processing modifies peripheral systems.
abstract: Multisensory integration in humans is thought to be essentially a brain phenomenon, but theories are silent as to the possible involvement of the peripheral nervous system. We provide evidence that this approach is insufficient. We report novel tactile-auditory and tactile-visual interactions in humans, demonstrating that a facilitating sound or visual stimulus that is exactly synchronous with an excitatory tactile signal presented at the lower leg increases the peripheral representation of that excitatory signal. These results demonstrate that during multisensory integration, the brain not only continuously binds information obtained from the senses, but also acts directly on that information by modulating activity at peripheral levels. We also discuss a theoretical framework to explain this novel interaction.
authors.affiliation: Visual Psychophysics and Perception Laboratory, School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lugo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Doti
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wittich
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Faubert
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009430:Neural Analyzers / Q000502:physiology; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*