ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1873-665X
Current Organisation
Trinity College Dublin
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-01-2021
DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2020.1859084
Abstract: Recent studies suggest that the lived environment can affect cognition across the lifespan. We examined, in a large cohort of older adults (n = 3447), whether susceptibility to a multisensory illusion, the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion (SIFI), was influenced by the reported urbanity of current and childhood (at age 14 years) residence. If urban environments help to shape healthy perceptual function, we predicted reduced SIFI susceptibility in urban dwellers. Participants reporting urban, compared with rural, childhood residence were less susceptible to SIFI at longer Stimulus-Onset Asynchronies (SOAs). Those currently residing in urban environments were more susceptible to SIFI at longer SOAs, particularly if they scored low on general cognitive function. These findings held even when controlling for a several covariates, such as age, sex, education, social participation and cognitive ability. Exposure to urban environments in childhood may influence in idual differences in perception and offer a multisensory perceptual benefit in older age.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-08-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-30798-8
Abstract: Across development, vision increasingly influences audio-visual perception. This is evidenced in illusions such as the McGurk effect, in which a seen mouth movement changes the perceived sound. The current paper assessed the effects of manipulating the clarity of the heard and seen signal upon the McGurk effect in children aged 3–6 (n = 29), 7–9 (n = 32) and 10–12 (n = 29) years, and adults aged 20–35 years (n = 32). Auditory noise increased, and visual blur decreased, the likelihood of vision changing auditory perception. Based upon a proposed developmental shift from auditory to visual dominance we predicted that younger children would be less susceptible to McGurk responses, and that adults would continue to be influenced by vision in higher levels of visual noise and with less auditory noise. Susceptibility to the McGurk effect was higher in adults compared with 3–6-year-olds and 7–9-year-olds but not 10–12-year-olds. Younger children required more auditory noise, and less visual noise, than adults to induce McGurk responses (i.e. adults and older children were more easily influenced by vision). Reduced susceptibility in childhood supports the theory that sensory dominance shifts across development and reaches adult-like levels by 10 years of age.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-12-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-019-55901-5
Abstract: Perception of our world is proposed to arise from combining multiple sensory inputs according to their relative reliability. We tested multisensory processes in a large s le of 2920 older adults to assess whether sensory ability mediates age-related changes in perception. Participants completed a test of audio-visual integration, the Sound Induced Flash Illusion (SIFI), alongside measures of visual (acuity, contrast sensitivity, self-reported vision and visual temporal discrimination (VTD)) and auditory (self-reported hearing and auditory temporal discrimination (ATD)) function. Structural equation modelling showed that SIFI susceptibility increased with age. This was mediated by visual acuity and self-reported hearing: better scores on these measures predicted reduced and stronger SIFI susceptibility, respectively. Unexpectedly, VTD improved with age and predicted increased SIFI susceptibility. Importantly, the relationship between age and SIFI susceptibility remained significant, even when considering mediators. A second model showed that, with age, visual ‘gain’ (the benefit of congruent auditory information on visual judgements) was predicted by ATD: better ATD predicted stronger visual gain. However, neither age nor SIFI susceptibility were directly associated with visual gain. Our findings illustrate, in the largest s le of older adults to date, how multisensory perception is influenced, but not fully accounted for, by age-related changes in unisensory abilities.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 04-10-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Rebecca Hirst.