Crossing Sensory Boundaries: Multisensory Perception Through the Lens of Audition

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Background

A substantial body of research suggests that there exist systematic associations between properties of seemingly unrelated sensory stimuli, what is known as cross-modal correspondences. Such associations between auditory attributes and other modalities have already been well documented. For example, both low- and high-level auditory characteristics ranging from pitch, loudness or timbre to articulation or harmonic dissonance have been related with visual, tactile or even gustatory qualities. Besides simple correspondences, there is growing evidence that the interaction of information arriving from different modalities may influence the formation of perceptual experiences. In other words, perception appears to be multisensory. One such example is the reported influence of auditory stimuli (be it background noise or music) on the perception of gustatory properties. Such effects have been attributed to common semantic processing, affective mediation, statistical learning or innate brain coding.


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.

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