The interplay between attention and multisensory integration

Ferrari, Ambra ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1946-3884 (2020). The interplay between attention and multisensory integration. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The world taxes our attentional resources with a constant influx of multisensory inputs. This raises the critical question of whether and how attention and multisensory integration interact to guide behaviour. Previous research has led to contrasting perspectives: while some investigations state that attention is a prerequisite for multisensory integration, others provide evidence of fast and automatic multisensory interactions which, instead, orient attention. The present thesis reconciles this artificial dichotomy by providing behavioural and neural evidence of a synergistic interplay between attention and multisensory integration at multiple levels of processing. Such flexible cooperation serves a common computational goal: to promote perceptual scene analysis adjusting for environmental conditions (competition for processing resources, sensory noise) and task demands (detection, discrimination). Specifically, here I show that multisensory integration captures attention in the presence of competing streams of information; moreover, attention modulates sensory uncertainty and determines selective read-out of internal task-relevant representations. Within a Bayesian framework, I further discuss how prior knowledge participates in this mutual interplay. Collectively, the emerging evidence of a tight functional interconnection between attention, multisensory integration and predictive processes provides a promising framework for characterising the development and flexible adjustment of effective behaviour in our complex and dynamic world.

Type of Work:	Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)
Award Type:	Doctorates > Ph.D.
Supervisor(s):	Supervisor(s) Email ORCID Noppeney, Uta UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-7697-2290
Licence:	All rights reserved
College/Faculty:	Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Life & Environmental Sciences
School or Department:	School of Psychology
Funders:	European Research Council
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
URI:	http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/9952

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