Altered temporal profile of visual-auditory multisensory interactions in dyslexia

Exp Brain Res. 2005 Oct;166(3-4):474-80. doi: 10.1007/s00221-005-2387-6. Epub 2005 Jul 19.

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated that dyslexia is associated with deficits in the temporal encoding of sensory information. While most previous studies have focused on information processing within a single sensory modality, it is clear that the deficits seen in dyslexia span multiple sensory systems. Surprisingly, although the development of linguistic proficiency involves the rapid and accurate integration of auditory and visual cues, the capacity of dyslexic individuals to integrate information between the different senses has not been systematically examined. To test this, we studied the effects of task-irrelevant auditory information on the performance of a visual temporal-order-judgment (TOJ) task. Dyslexic subjects' performance differed significantly from that of control subjects, specifically in that they integrated the auditory and visual information over longer temporal intervals. Such a result suggests an extended temporal "window" for binding visual and auditory cues in dyslexic individuals. The potential deleterious effects of this finding for rapid multisensory processes such as reading are discussed.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Adult
  • Auditory Perception / physiology*
  • Cues
  • Dyslexia / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology
  • Sensory Thresholds / physiology
  • Visual Perception / physiology*