Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans
Unlike dogs and cats, people do not point their ears as they focus attention on novel, salient, or task-relevant stimuli. Our species may nevertheless have retained a vestigial pinna-orienting system that has persisted as a 'neural fossil’ within in the brain for about 25 million years. Consist...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2020-07-01
|
| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/54536 |
| _version_ | 1818019639188258816 |
|---|---|
| author | Daniel J Strauss Farah I Corona-Strauss Andreas Schroeer Philipp Flotho Ronny Hannemann Steven A Hackley |
| author_facet | Daniel J Strauss Farah I Corona-Strauss Andreas Schroeer Philipp Flotho Ronny Hannemann Steven A Hackley |
| author_sort | Daniel J Strauss |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Unlike dogs and cats, people do not point their ears as they focus attention on novel, salient, or task-relevant stimuli. Our species may nevertheless have retained a vestigial pinna-orienting system that has persisted as a 'neural fossil’ within in the brain for about 25 million years. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrate that the direction of auditory attention is reflected in sustained electrical activity of muscles within the vestigial auriculomotor system. Surface electromyograms (EMGs) were taken from muscles that either move the pinna or alter its shape. To assess reflexive, stimulus-driven attention we presented novel sounds from speakers at four different lateral locations while the participants silently read a boring text in front of them. To test voluntary, goal-directed attention we instructed participants to listen to a short story coming from one of these speakers, while ignoring a competing story from the corresponding speaker on the opposite side. In both experiments, EMG recordings showed larger activity at the ear on the side of the attended stimulus, but with slightly different patterns. Upward movement (perking) differed according to the lateral focus of attention only during voluntary orienting; rearward folding of the pinna’s upper-lateral edge exhibited such differences only during reflexive orienting. The existence of a pinna-orienting system in humans, one that is experimentally accessible, offers opportunities for basic as well as applied science. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:53:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7f0937ad10014f66a01e220761159495 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:53:53Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-7f0937ad10014f66a01e2207611594952022-12-22T02:05:06ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2020-07-01910.7554/eLife.54536Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humansDaniel J Strauss0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8481-499XFarah I Corona-Strauss1Andreas Schroeer2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7904-3622Philipp Flotho3Ronny Hannemann4Steven A Hackley5Systems Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University & School of Engineering, htw saar, Homburg/Saar, GermanySystems Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University & School of Engineering, htw saar, Homburg/Saar, GermanySystems Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University & School of Engineering, htw saar, Homburg/Saar, GermanySystems Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Saarland University & School of Engineering, htw saar, Homburg/Saar, GermanyAudiological Research Unit, Sivantos GmbH, Erlangen, GermanyClinical and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, United StatesUnlike dogs and cats, people do not point their ears as they focus attention on novel, salient, or task-relevant stimuli. Our species may nevertheless have retained a vestigial pinna-orienting system that has persisted as a 'neural fossil’ within in the brain for about 25 million years. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrate that the direction of auditory attention is reflected in sustained electrical activity of muscles within the vestigial auriculomotor system. Surface electromyograms (EMGs) were taken from muscles that either move the pinna or alter its shape. To assess reflexive, stimulus-driven attention we presented novel sounds from speakers at four different lateral locations while the participants silently read a boring text in front of them. To test voluntary, goal-directed attention we instructed participants to listen to a short story coming from one of these speakers, while ignoring a competing story from the corresponding speaker on the opposite side. In both experiments, EMG recordings showed larger activity at the ear on the side of the attended stimulus, but with slightly different patterns. Upward movement (perking) differed according to the lateral focus of attention only during voluntary orienting; rearward folding of the pinna’s upper-lateral edge exhibited such differences only during reflexive orienting. The existence of a pinna-orienting system in humans, one that is experimentally accessible, offers opportunities for basic as well as applied science.https://elifesciences.org/articles/54536auditory attentionpinna-orientingelectromyogram |
| spellingShingle | Daniel J Strauss Farah I Corona-Strauss Andreas Schroeer Philipp Flotho Ronny Hannemann Steven A Hackley Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans eLife auditory attention pinna-orienting electromyogram |
| title | Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans |
| title_full | Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans |
| title_fullStr | Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans |
| title_short | Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans |
| title_sort | vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans |
| topic | auditory attention pinna-orienting electromyogram |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/54536 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT danieljstrauss vestigialauriculomotoractivityindicatesthedirectionofauditoryattentioninhumans AT farahicoronastrauss vestigialauriculomotoractivityindicatesthedirectionofauditoryattentioninhumans AT andreasschroeer vestigialauriculomotoractivityindicatesthedirectionofauditoryattentioninhumans AT philippflotho vestigialauriculomotoractivityindicatesthedirectionofauditoryattentioninhumans AT ronnyhannemann vestigialauriculomotoractivityindicatesthedirectionofauditoryattentioninhumans AT stevenahackley vestigialauriculomotoractivityindicatesthedirectionofauditoryattentioninhumans |