PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Liyu Cao
AU  - Barbara Händel
TI  - Increased influence of periphery on central visual processing in humans during walking
AID  - 10.1101/382093
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 382093
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/01/382093.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/01/382093.full
AB  - Cognitive processes are almost exclusively investigated under highly controlled settings while voluntary body movements are suppressed. However, recent animal work suggests differences in sensory processing between movement states by showing drastically changed neural responses in early visual areas between locomotion and stillness. Does locomotion also modulate visual cortical activity in humans and what are its perceptual consequences? Here, we present converging neurophysiological and behavioural evidence that walking leads to an increased influence of peripheral stimuli on central visual input. This modulation of visual processing due to walking is encompassed by a change in alpha oscillations, which is suggestive of an attentional shift to the periphery during walking. Overall, our study shows that strategies of sensory information processing can differ between movement states. This finding further demonstrates that a comprehensive understanding of human perception and cognition critically depends on the consideration of natural behaviour.