Past and Present Experience Alters Audiovisual Temporal Perception in Rats
Abstract
To perceive the environment, the brain naturally merges related visual and auditory signals. The neural mechanisms underlying this ability remain elusive, in part, due to a lack of suitable animal models to conduct translational studies. Thus, we set out to develop and validate rat models of audiovisual temporal perception; important first steps toward conducting mechanistic studies. Rats were trained to report whether an auditory or visual stimulus was presented first (i.e., temporal order judgment; TOJ task), or whether auditory and visual stimuli were synchronous or asynchronous (i.e., synchrony judgment; SJ task). Afterward, rats were tested for perceptual malleability and susceptibility to disruption, important characteristics in human literature. While both models showcased those characteristics, the TOJ task appeared more consistent with humans. To conclude, the present behavioural tasks are the only complete and valid animal models in the field of audiovisual perception, which will lay the foundation for future mechanistic studies.