Multisensory interactions in speech and language: from theory to application

Speech and language perception are inherently multisensory processes. The integration of auditory, visual, and somatosensory signals plays a fundamental role in how humans process and produce language across the lifespan. From the classic McGurk effect to the role of gesture in communication, converging evidence highlights that the brain does not process speech in isolation — rather, it continuously combines input across modalities to build robust and flexible linguistic representations. Despite significant advances in cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and computational modelling, key questions remain regarding the neural mechanisms underlying multisensory speech integration, how these processes break down in clinical populations, and how they can be harnessed in real-world applications.

This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge theoretical, empirical, and applied work on multisensory interactions in speech and language. It seeks to bridge the gap between foundational research and translational outcomes, spanning from basic perception to clinical intervention and technological application. By connecting insights from neuroimaging, behavioural experimentation, computational approaches, and clinical practice, this collection aims to advance our understanding of how the brain integrates multisensory signals in service of communication, and how this knowledge can inform diagnosis, rehabilitation, and the design of assistive technologies.

We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

-Neural correlates of audiovisual speech integration and their modulation by attention and context

-The role of gesture, lip-reading, and body movement in spoken language comprehension

-Multisensory speech processing across development, ageing, and multilingual populations

-Breakdown of multisensory integration in disorders such as autism, dyslexia, aphasia, and hearing loss

-Computational and predictive coding models of multisensory speech perception

-Applications of multisensory principles in hearing aids, cochlear implants, and speech therapy

-Cross-modal plasticity and its implications for language rehabilitation

-Methodological advances in the study of multisensory speech, including EEG, fMRI, and eye-tracking

We welcome original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, methods papers, and well-characterised case series.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Multisensory speech integration, Audiovisual speech perception, McGurk effect, Cross-modal plasticity, Predictive coding, Cognitive neuroscience, Speech and language disorders, Hearing loss, Speech rehabilitation, Assistive technology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.