title: Temporary deafness can impair multisensory integration: a study of cochlear-implant users.
abstract: Previous investigations suggest that temporary deafness can have a dramatic impact on audiovisual speech processing. The aim of this study was to test whether temporary deafness disturbs other multisensory processes in adults. A nonspeech task involving an audiotactile illusion was administered to a group of normally hearing individuals and a group of individuals who had been temporarily auditorily deprived. Members of this latter group had their auditory detection thresholds restored to normal levels through the use of a cochlear implant. Control conditions revealed that auditory and tactile discrimination capabilities were identical in the two groups. However, whereas normally hearing individuals integrated auditory and tactile information, so that they experienced the audiotactile illusion, individuals who had been temporarily deprived did not. Given the basic nature of the task, failure to integrate multisensory information could not be explained by the use of the cochlear implant. Thus, the results suggest that normally anticipated audiotactile interactions are disturbed following temporary deafness.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Guillemot
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Champoux
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D013997:Time Factors; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: audiotactile integration; auditory perception; deafness; multisensory integration