Multisensory processes are the product of a dynamic reweighting of physical stimulus characteristics and learned associations.
This reweighting occurs across multiple timescales, ranging from long term (i.e., developmental and lifespan) to short-term (i.e., during the learning and encoding of multisensory relations).
We propose a novel theoretical framework that combines traditional principles associated with stimulus characteristics (i.e., space, time, effectiveness) with a new principle of dynamic reweighting of stimulus characteristics and learned associations across different timescales.
The novel theoretical framework emphasizes the plastic and dynamic nature of multisensory processing across the lifespan and thus accounts for improvements in multisensory perception and behavior under ‘normal’ circumstances and offers plausible remediation strategies for treating patients in whom sensory or multisensory function is compromised.
Multisensory processes are fundamental in scaffolding perception, cognition, learning, and behavior. How and when stimuli from different sensory modalities are integrated rather than treated as separate entities is poorly understood. We review how the relative reliance on stimulus characteristics versus learned associations dynamically shapes multisensory processes. We illustrate the dynamism in multisensory function across two timescales: one long term that operates across the lifespan and one short term that operates during the learning of new multisensory relations. In addition, we highlight the importance of task contingencies. We conclude that these highly dynamic multisensory processes, based on the relative weighting of stimulus characteristics and learned associations, provide both stability and flexibility to brain functions over a wide range of temporal scales.
