Dataset Information

Vestibular-guided visual search.

ABSTRACT: The amnesic symptoms that accompany vestibular dysfunction point to a functional relationship between the vestibular and visual memory systems. However, little is known about the underpinning cognitive processes. As a starting point, we sought evidence for a type of cross-modal interaction commonly observed between other sensory modalities in which the identification of a target (in this case, visual) is facilitated if earlier coupled to a unique, temporally coincident stimulus from another sensory domain (in this case, vestibular). Participants first performed a visual detection task in which stimuli appeared at random locations within a computerised grid. Unknown to participants, the onset of one particular stimulus was accompanied by a brief, sub-sensory pulse of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS). Across two visual search experiments, both old and new targets were identified faster when presented in the grid location at which the GVS-paired visual stimulus had appeared in the earlier detection task. This location advantage appeared to be based on relative rather than absolute spatial co-ordinates since the effect held when the search grid was rotated 90°. Together these findings indicate that when individuals return to a familiar visual scene (here, a 2D grid), visual judgements are facilitated when targets appear at a location previously associated with a unique, task-irrelevant vestibular cue. This novel case of multisensory interplay has broader implications for understanding how vestibular signals inform cognitive processes and helps constrain the growing therapeutic application of GVS.

SUBMITTER: Smith L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7080682 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Vestibular-guided visual search.

Smith Laura L Gkioka Annita A Wilkinson David D

Experimental brain research 20200208 3

The amnesic symptoms that accompany vestibular dysfunction point to a functional relationship between the vestibular and visual memory systems. However, little is known about the underpinning cognitive processes. As a starting point, we sought evidence for a type of cross-modal interaction commonly observed between other sensory modalities in which the identification of a target (in this case, visual) is facilitated if earlier coupled to a unique, temporally coincident stimulus from another sens ...[more]

PMID: 32036414

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Project description:Self-motion perception (e.g., when walking/driving) relies on the integration of multiple sensory cues including visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive signals. Changes in the efficacy of multisensory integration have been observed in older adults (OA), which can sometimes lead to errors in perceptual judgments and have been associated with functional declines such as increased falls risk. The objectives of this study were to determine whether passive, visual-vestibular self-motion heading perception could be improved by providing feedback during multisensory training, and whether training-related effects might be more apparent in OAs vs. younger adults (YA). We also investigated the extent to which training might transfer to improved standing-balance. OAs and YAs were passively translated and asked to judge their direction of heading relative to straight-ahead (left/right). Each participant completed three conditions: (1) vestibular-only (passive physical motion in the dark), (2) visual-only (cloud-of-dots display), and (3) bimodal (congruent vestibular and visual stimulation). Measures of heading precision and bias were obtained for each condition. Over the course of 3 days, participants were asked to make bimodal heading judgments and were provided with feedback ("correct"/"incorrect") on 900 training trials. Post-training, participants' biases, and precision in all three sensory conditions (vestibular, visual, bimodal), and their standing-balance performance, were assessed. Results demonstrated improved overall precision (i.e., reduced JNDs) in heading perception after training. Pre- vs. post-training difference scores showed that improvements in JNDs were only found in the visual-only condition. Particularly notable is that 27% of OAs initially could not discriminate their heading at all in the visual-only condition pre-training, but subsequently obtained thresholds in the visual-only condition post-training that were similar to those of the other participants. While OAs seemed to show optimal integration pre- and post-training (i.e., did not show significant differences between predicted and observed JNDs), YAs only showed optimal integration post-training. There were no significant effects of training for bimodal or vestibular-only heading estimates, nor standing-balance performance. These results indicate that it may be possible to improve unimodal (visual) heading perception using a multisensory (visual-vestibular) training paradigm. The results may also help to inform interventions targeting tasks for which effective self-motion perception is important.

Dataset Information

Vestibular-guided visual search.

Publications

Vestibular-guided visual search.

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