"Developmental and adult plasticity of multisensory functions“  

Recent data have suggested that the development of multisensory

functions follows a protracted developmental time course. One example is

the spatial matching of crossmodal input. Spatial functions necessary

for crossmodal matching seem to emerge in mid and late childhood. They

depend on visual input and their development is incomplete if vision is

missing during the first years of life. These results point towards

sensitive phases for the development of multisensory functions at least

if crossmodal matching is based on spatial congruency. However, due to

changes of the sensory systems, the body and the environment, it is

important that adults are able to recalibrate their multisensory

representations as well. Evidence for the neural mechanisms of adult

crossmodal recalibration and context dependent adaptation will be

presented.