Neurons and behavior: the same rules of multisensory integration apply.

Combinations of different sensory cues (e.g. auditory and visual) that are coincident in space enhance the responses of multisensory superior colliculus neurons, while the responses of these same neurons are depressed if the stimuli are separated in space. Using a behavioral paradigm modeled after that used in physiological studies, the present experiments demonstrate that the rules governing multisensory integration at the level of the single neuron also predict the responses to these stimuli in the intact behaving animal.