Perceptual training improves audiovisual integration by enhancing alpha-band oscillations and functional connectivity in older adults.

Numerous studies on perceptual training exist, however, most have focused on the precision of temporal audiovisual perception, while fewer have concentrated on ability promotion for audiovisual integration (AVI). To investigate these issues, continuous 5-day audiovisual perceptual training was applied, during which electroencephalography was performed in response to auditory-only (A), visual-only (V) and audiovisual (AV) stimuli before and after training. The results showed that the perceptual sensitivity was greater for training group than for control group and was greater in the posttest than in the pretest.

Aging effect of cross-modal interactions during audiovisual detection and discrimination by behavior and ERPs.

Introduction: Numerous studies have shown that aging greatly affects audiovisual integration; however, it is still unclear when the aging effect occurs, and its neural mechanism has yet to be fully elucidated.

Methods: We assessed the audiovisual integration (AVI) of older ( = 40) and younger ( = 45) adults using simple meaningless stimulus detection and discrimination tasks. The results showed that the response was significantly faster and more accurate for younger adults than for older adults in both the detection and discrimination tasks.