ABSTRACT
Background Ventriloquism aftereffect (VAE), observed as a shift in the perceived locations of sounds after audiovisual stimulation, requires reference frame (RF) alignment since hearing and vision encode space in different RFs (head-centered, HC, vs. eye-centered, EC). Experimental studies examining the RF of VAE found inconsistent results: a mixture of HC and EC RFs was observed for VAE induced in the central region, while a predominantly HC RF was observed in the periphery. Here, a computational model examines these inconsistencies, as well as a newly observed EC adaptation induced by AV-aligned audiovisual stimuli.
Methods The model has two versions, each containing two additively combined components: a saccade-related component characterizing the adaptation in auditory-saccade responses, and auditory space representation adapted by ventriloquism signals either in the HC RF (HC version) or in a combination of HC and EC RFs (HEC version).
Results The HEC model performed better than the HC model in the main simulation considering all the data, while the HC model was more appropriate when only the AV-aligned adaptation data were simulated.
Conclusion Visual signals in a uniform mixed HC+EC RF are likely used to calibrate the auditory spatial representation, even after the EC-referenced auditory-saccade adaptation is accounted for.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.