The role of neural oscillations in cross-modal perception

• Applicant: Dr. Anna-Katharina Matke-Bauer
• Subject Area: Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426797465

In our environment we continuously receive abundant information from different sensory modalities. Inputs to our different senses often provide complementary evidence about the environment, and processing of one sensory modality, such as audition, can influence neural activity and behavioural performance in another sensory modality, such as vision. For instance, hearing a sound might help to guide visual perception to localize an element in a visual scene. Such auditory influences on visual perception can be conceptualized as cross-modal influences. Recent electrophysiological studies have proposed that cross-modal influences between primary auditory and visual areas are mediated by the synchronization of ongoing neural oscillations. In addition, previous work suggests that top-down mechanisms, such as temporal expectations, modulate neural connectivity between primary and higher-order brain regions in cross-modal contexts. During my research stay in the Brain and Cognition Laboratory of Prof. Anna Christina Nobre at the University of Oxford, I will investigate how exactly the auditory system contributes to visual processing and perception. I will conduct two experimental studies in humans to address three complementary research questions: 1) How do neural oscillations in the auditory cortex modulate visual cortical activity and visual perception? 2) How do top-down factors, such as temporal expectations, prepare neural activity to guide visual perception in dynamic environments? 3) How do primary sensory, multisensory, and higher-order brain regions interact in cross-modal contexts.The studies will use a novel task to probe detection and discrimination of visual stimuli in the context of rhythmic auditory stimulation. In both studies, I will use magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings in combination with state-of-the-art source analysis techniques. The results of this project will advance our understanding of the neural and cognitive mechanisms that govern cross-modal auditory-to-visual influences both within and across sensory modalities.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professorin Dr. Anna Christina Nobre