Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 21, 2025
Using Electroencephalography Measurements and High-quality Video Recording for Analyzing Visual Perception of Media Content
Published on: May 26, 2018
Differential neural processing of spontaneous blinking under visual and auditory sensory environments: An EEG
Careesa C Liu1, Sujoy Ghosh Hajra2, Gabriela Pawlowski3
1School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, 3560 Bathurst St, North York, ON, M6A 2E1, Canada.
Abstract:
Blink-related oscillations (BROs) are a recently discovered neurophysiological response associated with spontaneous blinking, distinct from the well-known oculomotor and visual suppression effects. BROs strongly activate the bilateral precuneus along with other cortical regions involved in visuospatial processing and associative episodic memory, and are believed to represent environmental monitoring processes that occur following blink-induced visual interruptions. Although these responses have been reported across multiple imaging modalities under both resting and cognitive loading conditions, it is yet unknown whether these responses also exist under external sensory stimulation conditions. To address this, we investigated BRO responses in healthy adults using 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG), while participants underwent passive external auditory and visual stimulation. Our results showed that BRO responses are present under both auditory and visual stimulation conditions (p < 0.05), with similar temporal and spectral features compared to rest. However, visual stimulation did result in decreased BRO amplitude compared to auditory and resting conditions (p < 0.05), suggesting decreased neuronal resources for processing blink-related information in the visual but not auditory environment. There were also additional pre-blink spectral changes in the visual condition compared to rest (p < 0.05), which suggest that passive visual stimulation induces neural preparatory processes occurring in anticipation of the upcoming blink event. Together, these findings provide new and compelling evidence that blink-related neural processes are modulated not only by the internal cognitive loading due to simultaneous task demands, but also by competing external sensory requirements. This highlights the link between blinking and cognition, and further demonstrates the importance of BROs as a new window into brain function.
