Eye movement-related brain potentials during assisted navigation in real-world environments

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Real-world neuroscience research faces challenges due to movement artifacts and lack of stimulus control.
• Mobile electroencephalography (EEG) offers a solution for studying brain activity in naturalistic settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate brain activity during real-world navigation using mobile EEG.
• To compare the effects of standard versus landmark-based auditory navigation instructions on spatial knowledge acquisition and brain responses.

Main Methods:

• Continuous mobile EEG recording during assisted navigation in an unfamiliar city.
• Extraction of saccade, blink, and gait-related EEG activity.
• Source-based cleaning and unfolding of overlapping event-related potentials for artifact removal and signal analysis.

Main Results:

• Landmark-based instructions led to higher amplitudes in blink-related brain potentials at fronto-central leads (starting 300 ms post-blink).
• This was associated with improved spatial knowledge acquisition compared to standard instructions.
• Eye movement-related brain potentials indicated involvement of higher cognitive processes and increased information processing with landmark-based guidance.

Conclusions:

• Mobile EEG and advanced data analysis enable real-world neuroscience research in freely moving participants.
• Landmark-based navigation instructions enhance spatial learning by modulating neural processing related to sensory input and cognitive effort.
• The study provides neuronal correlates for visuospatial information processing during real-world navigation.