Cerebral correlates and statistical criteria of cross-modal face and voice integration

Love, S.A., Pollick, F.E. and Latinus, M. (2011) Cerebral correlates and statistical criteria of cross-modal face and voice integration. Seeing and Perceiving, 24(4), pp. 351-367. (doi: 10.1163/187847511X584452)

Abstract

Perception of faces and voices plays a prominent role in human social interaction, making multisensory integration of cross-modal speech a topic of great interest in cognitive neuroscience. How to define po- tential sites of multisensory integration using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is currently under debate, with three statistical criteria frequently used (e.g., super-additive, max and mean criteria). In the present fMRI study, 20 participants were scanned in a block design under three stimulus conditions: dynamic unimodal face, unimodal voice and bimodal face–voice. Using this single dataset, we examine all these statistical criteria in an attempt to define loci of face–voice integration. While the super-additive and mean criteria essentially revealed regions in which one of the unimodal responses was a deactivation, the max criterion appeared stringent and only highlighted the left hippocampus as a potential site of face– voice integration. Psychophysiological interaction analysis showed that connectivity between occipital and temporal cortices increased during bimodal compared to unimodal conditions. We concluded that, when investigating multisensory integration with fMRI, all these criteria should be used in conjunction with ma- nipulation of stimulus signal-to-noise ratio and/or cross-modal congruency.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pollick, Professor Frank and Latinus, Dr Marianne and Love, Mr Scott
• Authors: Love, S.A., Pollick, F.E., and Latinus, M.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• Journal Name: Seeing and Perceiving
• Publisher: Brill
• ISSN: 1878-4755
• ISSN (Online): 1878-4763
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2011 Brill
• First Published: First published in Seeing and Perceiving 24(4):351-367
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
44988	1	Social interaction - a cognitive-neurosciences approach	Simon Garrod	Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/E020933/1	Cognitive Neuroimaging & Neuroengineering Technologies