Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices

Here, we report onset latencies for multisensory processing of letters in the primary auditory and visual sensory cortices. Healthy adults were presented with 300-ms visual and/or auditory letters (uppercase Roman alphabet and the corresponding auditory letter names in English). Magnetoencephalograp...

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Main Authors: Tommi Raij, Fa-Hsuan Lin, Benjamin Letham, Kaisu Lankinen, Tapsya Nayak, Thomas Witzel, Matti Hämäläinen, Jyrki Ahveninen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2024.1427149/full
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author Tommi Raij
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Benjamin Letham
Kaisu Lankinen
Tapsya Nayak
Thomas Witzel
Thomas Witzel
Matti Hämäläinen
Jyrki Ahveninen
author_facet Tommi Raij
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Benjamin Letham
Kaisu Lankinen
Tapsya Nayak
Thomas Witzel
Thomas Witzel
Matti Hämäläinen
Jyrki Ahveninen
author_sort Tommi Raij
collection DOAJ
description Here, we report onset latencies for multisensory processing of letters in the primary auditory and visual sensory cortices. Healthy adults were presented with 300-ms visual and/or auditory letters (uppercase Roman alphabet and the corresponding auditory letter names in English). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) evoked response generators were extracted from the auditory and visual sensory cortices for both within-modality and cross-sensory activations; these locations were mainly consistent with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results in the same subjects. In the primary auditory cortices (Heschl’s gyri) activity to auditory stimuli commenced at 25 ms and to visual stimuli at 65 ms (median values). In the primary visual cortex (Calcarine fissure) the activations started at 48 ms to visual and at 62 ms to auditory stimuli. This timing pattern suggests that the origins of the cross-sensory activations may be in the primary sensory cortices of the opposite modality, with conduction delays (from one sensory cortex to another) of 17–37 ms. Audiovisual interactions for letters started at 125 ms in the auditory and at 133 ms in the visual cortex (60–71 ms after inputs from both modalities converged). Multivariate pattern analysis suggested similar latency differences between the sensory cortices. Combined with our earlier findings for simpler stimuli (noise bursts and checkerboards), these results suggest that primary sensory cortices participate in early cross-modal and interaction processes similarly for different stimulus materials, but previously learned audiovisual associations and stimulus complexity may delay the start of the audiovisual interaction stage.
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spelling doaj-art-2dce8b0465c54f1d902d8789e74ed6652024-11-14T06:21:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience1662-51452024-11-011810.3389/fnint.2024.14271491427149Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory corticesTommi Raij0Fa-Hsuan Lin1Fa-Hsuan Lin2Fa-Hsuan Lin3Benjamin Letham4Kaisu Lankinen5Tapsya Nayak6Thomas Witzel7Thomas Witzel8Matti Hämäläinen9Jyrki Ahveninen10MGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United StatesPhysical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaInstitute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaMGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United StatesMGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United StatesMGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United StatesMGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United StatesHarvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, United StatesDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, FinlandMGH/MIT/HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United StatesHere, we report onset latencies for multisensory processing of letters in the primary auditory and visual sensory cortices. Healthy adults were presented with 300-ms visual and/or auditory letters (uppercase Roman alphabet and the corresponding auditory letter names in English). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) evoked response generators were extracted from the auditory and visual sensory cortices for both within-modality and cross-sensory activations; these locations were mainly consistent with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results in the same subjects. In the primary auditory cortices (Heschl’s gyri) activity to auditory stimuli commenced at 25 ms and to visual stimuli at 65 ms (median values). In the primary visual cortex (Calcarine fissure) the activations started at 48 ms to visual and at 62 ms to auditory stimuli. This timing pattern suggests that the origins of the cross-sensory activations may be in the primary sensory cortices of the opposite modality, with conduction delays (from one sensory cortex to another) of 17–37 ms. Audiovisual interactions for letters started at 125 ms in the auditory and at 133 ms in the visual cortex (60–71 ms after inputs from both modalities converged). Multivariate pattern analysis suggested similar latency differences between the sensory cortices. Combined with our earlier findings for simpler stimuli (noise bursts and checkerboards), these results suggest that primary sensory cortices participate in early cross-modal and interaction processes similarly for different stimulus materials, but previously learned audiovisual associations and stimulus complexity may delay the start of the audiovisual interaction stage.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2024.1427149/fullaudiovisual interactioncross-modallanguageMEGmultisensory
spellingShingle Tommi Raij
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Fa-Hsuan Lin
Benjamin Letham
Kaisu Lankinen
Tapsya Nayak
Thomas Witzel
Thomas Witzel
Matti Hämäläinen
Jyrki Ahveninen
Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
audiovisual interaction
cross-modal
language
MEG
multisensory
title Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
title_full Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
title_fullStr Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
title_full_unstemmed Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
title_short Onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
title_sort onset timing of letter processing in auditory and visual sensory cortices
topic audiovisual interaction
cross-modal
language
MEG
multisensory
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnint.2024.1427149/full
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