How to harness the benefits of multisensory-motor integration: Attention and Preparation

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Hear mosquito, see mosquito, hit mosquito. From protecting ourselves from insects, to picking up our phone, to drinking from our water bottle, voluntary goal-directed actions form the basis for our everyday interactions. The proposed systematic exploration of the principles for multisensory-motor integration will improve how humans perform these voluntary actions that are essential for activities of daily living, education, employment and recreation. Smart technologies able to support everyday tasks are becoming increasingly enhanced to make life more efficient. However, such technologies still require human oversight; how we integrate, interpret and respond to multisensory stimuli directly impacts our relative success in accomplishing daily tasks. My research program seeks to better understand and explain how humans integrate what we see, feel and hear when performing voluntary actions. While designers of new technology have the best intentions to help humans perform more efficiently, there are numerous ways in which the increasing sensory input may also lead to longer and less accurate responses. Until recently, much of what we knew about multisensory integration was based on simple responses, such as pressing a button. We know that individual and task characteristics influence how we interact and perform voluntary actions. We continuously update and adapt our actions based on what we intended to do, thought we did, and the available sensory feedback. The present research will help us understand how, when and why auditory stimuli impacts movement performance. I will conduct a series of experiments that together assess how task instructions interact with auditory stimuli and how rhythm may influence or stabilize movement planning processes. Detailed analyses of how movements are performed will be done by measuring where people look using gaze tracking and how they move their limbs through space using three-dimensional motion analysis. The results of this fundamental line of research will inform a range of possible applications, including the design of new human computer interfaces, therapies and educational approaches. For example, by understanding how rhythm influences movement, practitioners will be better informed to predict when and for whom rhythm will lead to improved limb control. Understanding how and why multisensory stimuli can facilitate voluntary actions will also inform training techniques and design principles that will enhance task learning; crucial for activities, such as driving, where efficient and effective movement is essential for safety.