Investigating Visual to Auditory Crossmodal Compensation in a Model For Acute Blindness

This study examined neural integration of the sensory modalities of vision and hearing. The objective is to investigate whether an effect of cross-modal compensation of visual to auditory networks in human participants occurs with the deprivation of visual input. This model for acute blindness had a novel design that attempted to imitate true blindness. The experiment involved 10 participants wearing opaque contact lenses that blocked visual feedback for a total of five hours. The duration of the total experiment was approximately eight hours, and involved seven sessions. The overall accuracy across time did not improve in blind individuals (p = 0.586), however, there was a significant finding in speaker accuracy (p<0.000), and a significant interaction between session and speaker (p=0.004). Reaction time generated a main effect of session (p<0.000) and a significant main effect of speaker (p<0.000), but no significant interaction between session and speaker with respect to reaction time.

Author dc:creator

• Savija, Nevena

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• DeSouza, Joseph

• Neurosciences

Statement dc:rights

• Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10315/33341

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:yorkspace.library.yorku.ca:10315/33341