Use multisensory exposure and training as targets for remediation of sensory-based developmental and cognitive impairments¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 7 claims (7 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review proposes that impairments in multisensory integration and temporal processing "may point toward novel targets for remediation". Remediation approaches now used in conditions with multisensory dysfunction are predicated on the ideas that exposure to multisensory settings can train integrative networks to better process sensory information and that enhanced integration will translate to benefits in higher-order cognitive domains. Applications span autism, aging-related disorders, and low vision rehabilitation.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Evidence of multisensory dysfunction in the target condition; training settings that provide appropriately aligned, coincident multisensory input

Constraints¶

• The review states the associations underlying these targets are largely concurrent and correlational, so causality is not yet established and more longitudinal and experimental studies are needed

Target Learners¶

• individuals with autism spectrum disorder
• older adults with or at risk of cognitive decline
• individuals with low vision or hearing loss

Target Learning Goals¶

• speech perception and language processing
• multisensory integration ability
• protection against cognitive decline

Affordances¶

• Multisensory Scaffolding Of Cognition Theory

Claims¶

• Older adults show larger multisensory gains for simple stimuli but multisensory deficits for complex speech stimuli [+W]
• Autistic individuals show reduced multisensory integration, most consistently for speech-related stimuli [+W]
• Multisensory temporal precision in autism is linked to speech integration, language abilities, and clinical symptomatology [+W]
• Individuals with dyslexia show impairments in audiovisual integration beyond phoneme-grapheme mapping [+W]
• Prenatal synchronous multisensory exposure enhances learning and memory for a mother's call in quail embryos [+W]
• Individuals with schizophrenia show reduced behavioral benefit from combined audiovisual cues and altered multisensory temporal processing [+W]
• Children with specific language impairment show reduced selective attention to and integration of audiovisual speech [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Wallace, M. T., Woynaroski, T. G., & Stevenson, R. A. (2020). Multisensory Integration as a Window into Orderly and Disrupted Cognition and Communication. Annual Review of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-051112