About this Research Topic
The aim of this Research Topic is to engage a multi-disciplinary discourse around the correspondences and interplay between auditory qualities and attributes of other modalities. While recent years have increased our understanding of how different sensory modalities interact, there are still a number of fascinating research questions to be further explored. How do the possible interpretative mechanisms of sensory cross-talk interact with each other? To what extent can cross-modality account for the meaning that emerges from sound and musical patterns? Are audition-based cross-modal associations expertise or culturally dependent? Can we advance our current understanding regarding the auditory and musical parameters that are systematically associated with other sensory qualia? How can established cross-modal associations be utilized in novel multisensory applications in the arts, health and well-being, marketing, virtual worlds, etc.? What is the role of sensory congruence vs. incongruence in multisensory perception?
The above questions can be thoroughly addressed only by examining complementary approaches. Behaviorally collected evidence should be interpreted in the light of imaging studies revealing brain activation related to multi-modal stimulation. Likewise, studies on product branding and consumer behavior can be juxtaposed with philosophical perspectives. Therefore, we invite original contributions coming from a variety of scientific disciplines including, but not limited to, experimental psychology, auditory cognitive neuroscience, psychoacoustics, music psychology, sensory science, marketing and philosophy. At the same time, original pieces of research should ideally be accompanied by review articles of the current knowledge on auditory cross-modal correspondences along with the presentation of conceivable theories and well-founded opinions. We thus welcome a variety of article types including: Original Research, Hypothesis & Theory, Review, Perspective, Conceptual Analysis, and Opinion.
Keywords: Cross-modal correspondences, multisensory perception, audition, sound, music, taste, smell, touch, vision
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.