A New Unexpected Benefit of Walking Discovered
Researchers from China and Germany have found that walking enhances the brain’s response to sounds — and this sensitivity changes depending on the direction of movement. The study was published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Previously, it was known that movement affects visual perception, but its influence on hearing remained unclear. A team led by Liu Cao from Zhejiang University and Barbara Händel from the University of Würzburg decided to test how the brain processes sounds while a person is walking rather than standing still.
Volunteers equipped with mobile EEG sensors walked along a figure-eight path while listening to different sound frequencies in the left and right ear. It turned out that during walking, the brain “synchronized” better with sounds than when stationary. Moreover, when turning, the brain enhanced perception of the sound coming from the direction of movement — for example, during a right turn, it responded more strongly to the signal in the right ear.
In a second experiment, participants were exposed to sudden short bursts of noise. The brain’s response to such “disturbances” also increased during walking, especially when the sound came from the side.
Scientists believe that the brain dynamically adjusts hearing based on movement to better orient itself in space and respond more quickly to sudden sounds. This discovery could help in developing future navigation and auditory technologies.
