PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Yinan Cao AU - Christopher Summerfield AU - Hame Park AU - Bruno L. Giordano AU - Christoph Kayser TI - Causal inference in the multisensory brain AID - 10.1101/500413 DP - 2018 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 500413 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/19/500413.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/19/500413.full AB - When combining information across different senses humans need to flexibly select cues of a common origin whilst avoiding distraction from irrelevant inputs. The brain could solve this challenge using a hierarchical principle, by deriving rapidly a fused sensory estimate for computational expediency and, later and if required, filtering out irrelevant signals based on the inferred sensory cause(s). Analysing time- and source-resolved human magnetoencephalographic data we unveil a systematic spatio-temporal cascade of the relevant computations, starting with early segregated unisensory representations, continuing with sensory fusion in parietal-temporal regions and culminating as causal inference in the frontal lobe. Our results reconcile previous computational accounts of multisensory perception by showing that prefrontal cortex guides flexible integrative behaviour based on candidate representations established in sensory and association cortices, thereby framing multisensory integration in the generalised context of adaptive behaviour.