Abstract

Previous studies investigating mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have focused primarily on cognitive, memory, attention, and executive function deficits. There has been relatively little research on the perceptual deficits people with MCI may exhibit. This is surprising given that it has been suggested that sensory and cognitive functions share a common cortical framework [1]. In the following study, we presented the sound-induced flash illusion (SiFi) to a group of participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy controls (HC). The SiFi is an audio-visual illusion whereby two-beeps and one-flash are presented. Participants tend to perceive two flashes when the time-interval between the auditory beeps is small [2, 3]. Participants with MCI perceived significantly more illusions compared to HC over longer auditory time-intervals. This suggests that MCIs integrate more (arguably irrelevant) audiovisual information compared to HCs. By incorporating perceptual tasks into a clinical diagnosis it may be possible to gain a more comprehensive understanding into the disease, as well as provide a more accurate diagnose to those who may have a language impairment.

Keywords: Mild cognitive impairment, multisensory integration, sound-induced flash illusion.