Intermodulation from Unisensory to Multisensory Perception: A Review

• Published in: Brain sciences Vol. 12; no. 12; p. 1617
• Main Authors: Xu, Shen, Zhou, Xiaolin, Chen, Lihan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Brain research; Cognition & reasoning; computational model; Decision making; EEG; Electroencephalography; frequency-tagging; Information processing; intermodulation components (IMs); MVPA; neural interactions; neural network; Power; Review; Senses; Sensory integration; Visual perception; intermodulation components (IMs); frequency-tagging; computational model; multisensory; neural interactions; neural network; MVPA; electroencephalogram (EEG)
• ISSN: 2076-3425; 2076-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12121617

Previous intermodulation (IM) studies have employed two (or more) temporal modulations of a stimulus, with different local elements of the stimulus being modulated by different frequencies. Brain activities of IM obtained mainly from electroencephalograms (EEG) have been analyzed in the frequency domain. As a powerful tool, IM, which can provide a direct and objective physiological measure of neural interaction, has emerged as a promising method to decipher neural interactions in visual perception, and reveal the underlying different perceptual processing levels. In this review, we summarize the recent applications of IM in visual perception, detail the protocols and types of IM, and extend its utility and potential applications to the multisensory domain. We propose that using IM could prevail in partially revealing the potential hierarchical processing of multisensory information and contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying brain dynamics.