Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion
When observing others’ behaviors, we continuously integrate their movements with the corresponding sounds to enhance perception and develop adaptive responses. However, how the human brain integrates these complex audiovisual cues based on their natural temporal correspondence remains unclear. Using...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2025-02-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/98701 |
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| author | Li Shen Shuo Li Yuhao Tian Ying Wang Yi Jiang |
| author_facet | Li Shen Shuo Li Yuhao Tian Ying Wang Yi Jiang |
| author_sort | Li Shen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When observing others’ behaviors, we continuously integrate their movements with the corresponding sounds to enhance perception and develop adaptive responses. However, how the human brain integrates these complex audiovisual cues based on their natural temporal correspondence remains unclear. Using electroencephalogram (EEG), we demonstrated that rhythmic cortical activity tracked the hierarchical rhythmic structures in audiovisually congruent human walking movements and footstep sounds. Remarkably, the cortical tracking effects exhibit distinct multisensory integration modes at two temporal scales: an additive mode in a lower-order, narrower temporal integration window (step cycle) and a super-additive enhancement in a higher-order, broader temporal window (gait cycle). Furthermore, while neural responses at the lower-order timescale reflect a domain-general audiovisual integration process, cortical tracking at the higher-order timescale is exclusively engaged in the integration of biological motion cues. In addition, only this higher-order, domain-specific cortical tracking effect correlates with individuals’ autistic traits, highlighting its potential as a neural marker for autism spectrum disorder. These findings unveil the multifaceted mechanism whereby rhythmic cortical activity supports the multisensory integration of human motion, shedding light on how neural coding of hierarchical temporal structures orchestrates the processing of complex, natural stimuli across multiple timescales. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a94eb8acff6146ea9a0068f2249dd275 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-a94eb8acff6146ea9a0068f2249dd2752025-02-05T14:06:29ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-02-011310.7554/eLife.98701Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motionLi Shen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6088-7892Shuo Li1Yuhao Tian2Ying Wang3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5756-2480Yi Jiang4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5746-7301State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaWhen observing others’ behaviors, we continuously integrate their movements with the corresponding sounds to enhance perception and develop adaptive responses. However, how the human brain integrates these complex audiovisual cues based on their natural temporal correspondence remains unclear. Using electroencephalogram (EEG), we demonstrated that rhythmic cortical activity tracked the hierarchical rhythmic structures in audiovisually congruent human walking movements and footstep sounds. Remarkably, the cortical tracking effects exhibit distinct multisensory integration modes at two temporal scales: an additive mode in a lower-order, narrower temporal integration window (step cycle) and a super-additive enhancement in a higher-order, broader temporal window (gait cycle). Furthermore, while neural responses at the lower-order timescale reflect a domain-general audiovisual integration process, cortical tracking at the higher-order timescale is exclusively engaged in the integration of biological motion cues. In addition, only this higher-order, domain-specific cortical tracking effect correlates with individuals’ autistic traits, highlighting its potential as a neural marker for autism spectrum disorder. These findings unveil the multifaceted mechanism whereby rhythmic cortical activity supports the multisensory integration of human motion, shedding light on how neural coding of hierarchical temporal structures orchestrates the processing of complex, natural stimuli across multiple timescales.https://elifesciences.org/articles/98701multisensory integrationbiological motionrhythmcortical trackingautistic traits |
| spellingShingle | Li Shen Shuo Li Yuhao Tian Ying Wang Yi Jiang Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion eLife multisensory integration biological motion rhythm cortical tracking autistic traits |
| title | Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion |
| title_full | Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion |
| title_fullStr | Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion |
| title_short | Cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion |
| title_sort | cortical tracking of hierarchical rhythms orchestrates the multisensory processing of biological motion |
| topic | multisensory integration biological motion rhythm cortical tracking autistic traits |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/98701 |
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