title: Basic multisensory functions can be acquired after congenital visual pattern deprivation in humans.
abstract: People treated for bilateral congenital cataracts offer a model to study the influence of visual deprivation in early infancy on visual and multisensory development. We investigated cross-modal integration capabilities in cataract patients using a simple detection task that provided redundant information to two different senses. In both patients and controls, redundancy gains were consistent with coactivation models, indicating an integrated processing of modality-specific information. This finding is in contrast with recent studies showing impaired higher-level multisensory interactions in cataract patients. The present results suggest that basic cross-modal integrative processes for simple short stimuli do not depend on visual and/or crossmodal input since birth.
authors.affiliation: Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. lisa.putzar@uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Putzar
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gondan
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Röder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002386:Cataract / Q000151:congenital / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult