RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Visualizing sounds: training-induced plasticity with a visual-to-auditory conversion device
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.01.14.426668
DO 10.1101/2021.01.14.426668
A1 Jacques Pesnot Lerousseau
A1 Gabriel Arnold
A1 Malika Auvray
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/01/14/2021.01.14.426668.abstract
AB Sensory substitution devices aim at restoring visual functions by converting visual information into auditory or tactile stimuli. Although these devices show promises in the range of behavioral abilities they allow, the processes underlying their use remains underspecified. In particular, while an initial debate focused on the visual versus auditory or tactile nature of sensory substitution, since over a decade, the idea that it reflects a mixture of both has emerged. In order to investigate behaviorally the extent to which visual and auditory processes are involved, participants completed a Stroop-like crossmodal interference paradigm before and after being trained with a conversion device which translates visual images into sounds. In addition, participants’ auditory abilities and their phenomenologies were measured. Our study revealed that, after training, when asked to identify sounds, processes shared with vision were involved, as participants’ performance in sound identification was influenced by the simultaneously presented visual distractors. In addition, participants’ performance during training and their associated phenomenology depended on their auditory abilities, revealing that processing finds its roots in the input sensory modality. Our results pave the way for improving the design and learning of these devices by taking into account inter-individual differences in auditory and visual perceptual strategies.Trained people spontaneously use processes shared with vision when hearing sounds from the deviceProcesses with conversion devices find roots both in vision and auditionTraining with a visual-to-auditory conversion device induces perceptual plasticityCompeting Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.