Combining multisensory temporal information for movement synchronisation.

Alan Wing, M Doumas, Andrew Welchman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The ability to synchronise actions with environmental events is a fundamental skill supporting a variety of group activities. In such situations, multiple sensory cues are usually available for synchronisation, yet previous studies have suggested that auditory cues dominate those from other modalities. We examine the control of rhythmic action on the basis of auditory and haptic cues and show that performance is sensitive to both sources of information for synchronisation. Participants were required to tap the dominant hand index finger in synchrony with a metronome defined by periodic auditory tones, imposed movements of the non-dominant index finger, or both cues together. Synchronisation was least variable with the bimodal metronome as predicted by a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) model. However, increases in timing variability of the auditory cue resulted in some departures from the MLE model. Our findings indicate the need for further investigation of the MLE account of the integration of multisensory signals in the temporal control of action.
Original languageEnglish
JournalExperimental Brain Research
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Dec 2009

Keywords

  • Multisensory
  • Action
  • Cue combination
  • Haptic auditory
  • Movement timing
  • Synchronisation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Combining multisensory temporal information for movement synchronisation.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this