Memory and language in synchrony: the role of theta oscillations in binding multisensory speech in memory

Watching films and having conversations relies on an ability to bind together concomitant streams of information conveyed in different modalities into multisensory memory. Although language encoding is common, the mechanisms that underpin multisensory binding in memory have not been addressed with realistic audiovisual speech.

I will use dialogue from scenes from films to establish how the natural synchrony between auditory and visual modalities is crucial to creating successful memory. I will look at memory recall performance as well as the neural processes in the brain’s regions of interest, using a memory task combined with electrophysiological recordings from healthy people and people with epilepsy.

My findings will have far-reaching implications for future clinical applications.