Our brain ‘swivels’ to focus on sounds from different directions

Dogs do this, cats do this, deer do it – in fact, many types of mammals can turn their ears to direct the ear. People lost this ability about 25 million years agoBut in accordance with the new study, that we are lacking in the skills of the ears that we make up for the ability of our brain to choose in which direction to listen to the most intensively.

The study used mobile electroencephalography (EEG) to register the electrical activity of the brain, while the volunteers were in motion. Until recently, EEG could only be made, and the electrodes installed on the scalp are carried out to the computer. In recent years, however, the development of smaller, lungs and, importantly, the wireless settings of the EEG allowed to measure brain Activity in motion and begin to associate behavior with the function of the brain.

These types of research show that the movement has an important effect on how the brain works. “Active study exacerbates perception, supports spatial mapping and integrates multisiceral signals into a sequential sense of space,” says Maren Schmidt Kassoou At the University of Get in Frankfurt, Germany, which did not participate in this study. “Cognition is deeply justified in action.”

Research from the laboratory Barbara Hendel At the University of Würzburg in Germany, he previously showed that Walking affects visual information processingThus, we are more likely to notice objects in our peripheral vision, which is usually suppressed when we do not move. Now her team showed that something like that is true for sound, and the brain constantly regulates in which direction he should listen to the most difficult.

In the experiments, 35 volunteers were equipped with mobile sensors of the EEG and motion sensors and asked to go along the way in the form of the eighth, listening to a continuous stream of sound reproduced through the headphones.

Compared to when they stood or went still, EEG showed that a significant increase in sound processing was observed in the brain when the volunteers went along the path. When they turned, the brain adapted further, determining the priorities of the sounds coming in this direction. Since they continued along the way, the inner focus of the attention of the brain switched the sides with each bend, as if a panting from one stereodynamic to another or physically turn his ear to soundField

Member of the team Liyu Cao At the University of Zhejiang in Hangzhou, China, it suggests that this internal form of turning the ears can be evolutionary adaptation to remain safe. “This can ensure a faster reaction time and safer navigation in a dynamic environment,” he says.

This study can help improve the design of navigation tools for people who have visually laid and preliminary hearing aids, so they filter a background noise based on someone’s walking direction, says Hendel.

It can also help us understand why Outdoor exercises, in the same way, have more advantages for brain health and knowledge than when it is done on treadmills or stationary bicycles. “Movement is much more than muscles,” says Hendel. “Your brain changes, how you move and how you move, changes how your brain functions. We are talking about the use of this interaction, since it develops to function most effectively. ”