Abstract
Ranging of auditory objects relies on several acoustic cues and is possibly modulated by additional visual information. Sound pressure level can serve as a cue for distance perception because it decreases with increasing distance. In this agnetoencephalography (MEG) experiment, we tested whether psychophysical loudness judgment and N1m MEG responses are modulated by visual distance cues. To this end, we paired noise bursts at different sound pressure levels with synchronous visual cues at different distances. We hypothesized that noise bursts paired with far visual cues will be perceived louder and result in increased N1m amplitudes compared to a pairing with close visual cues. The rationale behind this was that listeners might compensate the visually induced object distance when processing loudness. Psychophysically, we observed no significant modulation of loudness judgments by visual cues. However, N1m MEG responses at about 100 ms after stimulus onset were significantly stronger for far versus close visual cues in the left auditory cortex. N1m responses in the right auditory cortex increased with increasing sound pressure level, but were not modulated by visual distance cues. Thus, our results suggest an audio-visual interaction in the left auditory cortex that is possibly related to cue integration for auditory distance processing.