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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurosci.

Sec. Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1641862

This article is part of the Research TopicNeurocognitive Bases of Music ReadingView all 6 articles

Multisensory vs. Unisensory Learning: How They Shape Effective Connectivity Networks Subserving Unimodal and Multimodal Integration

Provisionally accepted
IOANNA  PORFYRIIOANNA PORFYRI1Evangelos  ParaskevopoulosEvangelos Paraskevopoulos2*Alexandra  AnagnostopoulouAlexandra Anagnostopoulou1Charis  StyliadisCharis Styliadis1Panagiotis  BamidisPanagiotis Bamidis1
  • 1Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
  • 2Panepistemio Kyprou, Nicosia, Cyprus

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The brain synthesizes meaningful interpretations out of the surrounding environment, by integrating sensory input collected by multiple senses. Learning based on contextual multisensory stimulation is considered superior to unisensory. Multisensory methods implemented in rehabilitation and educational studies have demonstrated remarkable neuroplastic changes within cortical networks. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the ensuing neuroplasticity continue to elude comprehension. The present work intends to address this gap at the large-scale level by modeling the experience-induced alterations of multisensory and unisensory training in the effective cortical networks that subserve visual, auditory, and audiovisual information processing. Pre-and post-training EEG analysis demonstrated that the cross-modal training alters significantly the effective connectivity networks in all three modalities, whilst the unisensory methodological approach exerts impact solely on a unisensory (auditory) system. The regions that exhibit most of the alterations are identified within the left medial frontal gyrus (MFG), the left inferior frontal sulcus (IFS), as well as the left insula, areas with renowned multisensory properties. The reconfiguration of the connections following the multisensory training and during the visual and auditory integrative processes concerns mainly higher-order cortical areas, suggesting a top-down process affecting unisensory perception. The results of our study not only strengthen the theory of the superiority of multisensory training compared to unisensory but also indicate that the influence of multimodal training on the unisensory systems succeeds through feedback connections from higher-order association areas, highlighting the complexity of neurophysiological pathways of human perception.

Keywords: Multisensory training, music training, EEG, neuroplasticity, effective connectivity

Received: 05 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 PORFYRI, Paraskevopoulos, Anagnostopoulou, Styliadis and Bamidis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Evangelos Paraskevopoulos, Panepistemio Kyprou, Nicosia, Cyprus

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