Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Oct 2010)
Visual evoked responses during standing and walking
Abstract
Human cognition has been shaped both by our body structure and by its complex interactionswith its environment. Our cognition is thus inextricably linked to our own and others’ motorbehavior. To model brain activity associated with natural cognition, we propose recording theconcurrent brain dynamics and body movements of human subjects performing normal actions.Here we tested the feasibility of such a mobile brain/body (MoBI) imaging approach byrecording high-density electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and body movements of subjectsstanding or walking on a treadmill while performing a visual oddball response task. Independentcomponent analysis (ICA) of the EEG data revealed visual event-related potentials (ERPs) thatduring standing, slow walking, and fast walking did not differ across movement conditions,demonstrating the viability of recording brain activity accompanying cognitive processes duringwhole body movement. Non-invasive and relatively low-cost MoBI studies of normal, motivatedactions might improve understanding of interactions between brain and body dynamics leadingto more complete biological models of cognition.
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