Short-term audio-tactile training affects cortical auditory speech-envelope tracking for incongruent but not congruent stimuli

Integrating auditory and visual information can improve intelligibility and neural tracking of the speech envelope. Speech-relevant tactile information also improves tracking, yet effects on intelligibility are mixed, possibly due to no regular exposure to speech-relevant tactile information. We used short-term audio-tactile training to advance understanding of audio-tactile integration during speech perception....

No actionable change — this is a basic neuroscience study on multisensory training effects in healthy participants; results are too preliminary to influence speech therapy, hearing aid fitting, or audiological rehabilitation protocols.

Understanding how combining touch and sound training reshapes the brain's speech-processing could open new avenues for multisensory rehabilitation approaches in people with hearing loss or auditory processing difficulties.

1. 01Short-term audio-tactile (sound + touch) training altered cortical tracking of speech envelopes in healthy participants.
2. 02Training effects appeared only for incongruent (mismatched) audio-tactile stimuli, not congruent ones.
3. 03Findings shed light on how the brain integrates multiple senses (multisensory integration) during speech perception.
4. 04EEG or neuroimaging was used to measure cortical auditory tracking changes.
5. 05Results are in healthy subjects — generalizability to hearing-impaired populations is unknown.

PMID

42379408

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122094.

Journal

NeuroImage

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Healthy adult participants undergoing audio-tactile sensory training

Intervention

Short-term audio-tactile (combined sound and touch) training

Comparator

Congruent audio-tactile stimuli condition (within-subject)