A Cross-Modal Aftereffect: Auditory Displacement following Adaptation to Visual Motion

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Abstract
It has been shown earlier that the perceived location of static sound-sources can be displaced (a) during visual motion and (b) following auditory motion. Here we combine these phenomena. The subject adapted to the horizontal visual motion of a surrounding drum, then (with the lights off) localized static sound-sources by setting the direction of a pointer. Adapting motion was clockwise or counterclockwise: the difference between each subject's settings following the opposite directions of adaptation showed small but consistent auditory displacements opposite to the adapting directions. This visual-auditory aftereffect, which is consistent with sensorineural data, challenges a general, if implicit, belief that aftereffects do not cross modalities.