Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 2, 2026
09:36
Dual-Dye Optical Mapping of Hearts from RyR2R2474S Knock-In Mice of Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia
Published on: December 22, 2023
1.6K
Active sampling in visual search is coupled to the cardiac cycle
Alejandro Galvez-Pol1, Ruth McConnell1, James M Kilner1
1Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, WC1N 3BG, UK.
Cognition
|December 2, 2019
Summary
Our active exploration of the world aligns with our heartbeat. Eye movements, like saccades and blinks, are timed with the cardiac cycle, suggesting internal and external processing synchronize.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Physiology
Background:
- Perception and cognition can be influenced by internal bodily signals, such as heartbeat phases.
- Previous studies locked sensory events to the cardiac cycle, but real-world information is actively sampled.
- The cardiac cycle's influence on active information sampling remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if active visual sampling, specifically eye movements, is modulated by the cardiac cycle.
- To determine if the timing of saccades, fixations, and blinks correlates with heartbeats.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous recording of eye movements and heartbeat signals in participants comparing visual arrays.
- Analysis of saccade, fixation, and blink timing relative to cardiac cycle phases (systole and diastole).
Main Results:
- Saccades and blinks were more frequent during the systolic phase (increased baroreceptor activity).
- Fixations were more prevalent during the diastolic phase (quiescent baroreceptors).
- A significant coupling between eye movements and the cardiac cycle was observed.
Conclusions:
- Active exteroceptive processing (visual sampling) is modulated by interoceptive signals (cardiac cycle).
- The brain appears to coordinate external world sampling with internal bodily states.
- This suggests a dynamic interplay between internal bodily signals and cognitive processes.
