RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Visual Phosphene Perception Modulated by Subthreshold Crossmodal Sensory Stimulation
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 4178
OP 4181
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5468-06.2007
VO 27
IS 15
A1 Ramos-Estebanez, Ciro
A1 Merabet, Lotfi B.
A1 Machii, Katsuyuki
A1 Fregni, Felipe
A1 Thut, Gregor
A1 Wagner, Timothy A.
A1 Romei, Vicenzo
A1 Amedi, Amir
A1 Pascual-Leone, Alvaro
YR 2007
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/15/4178.abstract
AB Crossmodal sensory interactions serve to integrate behaviorally relevant sensory stimuli. In this study, we investigated the effect of modulating crossmodal interactions between visual and somatosensory stimuli that in isolation do not reach perceptual awareness. When a subthreshold somatosensory stimulus was delivered within close spatiotemporal congruency to the expected site of perception of a phosphene, a subthreshold transcranial magnetic stimulation pulse delivered to the occipital cortex evoked a visual percept. The results suggest that under subthreshold conditions of visual and somatosensory stimulation, crossmodal interactions presented in a spatially and temporally specific manner can sum up to become behaviorally significant. These interactions may reflect an underlying anatomical connectivity and become further enhanced by attention modulation mechanisms.