Walking Tunes the Brain to Sounds, Sharpens Auditory Awareness

Summary: A new study shows that walking enhances how the brain processes auditory information, sharpening responses compared to standing still. When participants walked in a figure-eight path, their brains responded more strongly to sounds, and turning direction influenced whether responses were enhanced or suppressed in each ear.

Sudden tone bursts triggered distinct neural reactions, especially when played in one ear. Researchers suggest the brain filters routine background sounds while boosting attention to novel noises, supporting quicker reactions in dynamic environments.

Key Facts

Movement Boost: Walking strengthened neural responses to sound compared to standing.
Directional Effect: Right or left turns shifted auditory attention between ears.
Novelty Detection: The brain filters predictable sounds while amplifying unexpected ones.

Source: SfN

Does walking influence how people process sensory information, like sounds, from the environment?

In a new Journal of Neuroscience paper, researchers led by Liyu Cao, from Zhejiang University, and Barbara Händel, from University of Würzburg, explored whether walking direction influences how people process sounds.

Thirty volunteers walked in an eight-shaped path as they listened to a continuous stream of sound with changing intensities while researchers collected recordings of brain activity.

People had stronger neural responses to sound while walking as opposed to standing or walking in place. These responses changed to the same degree as manipulations to sound intensity.

Notably, different walking directions changed how the brain responded to sound.

Cao provides an example, “When people made a right turn, responses to sounds from the right ear were enhanced at the beginning of the turn and then suppressed, relative to the responses to sounds from left. This could reflect a change in attention during turns.”

When the authors introduced bursts of tones into the sound stream, these tones disrupted the brain’s associative response and elicited a different response. As before, this response was strongest during walking, but only when the sound bursts happened in one ear as opposed to both ears.

This finding suggests that neural responses may be particularly sensitive to auditory input from the periphery when people are walking

Bridging the findings together, says Cao, “This could reflect a filtering operation of the brain: It might actively suppress predictable background sounds—like our own footsteps—while increasing sensitivity to unexpected sounds from the side.

“This might allow for faster reaction times and safer navigation in dynamic environments. It could also suggest that our auditory system appears to be optimized for detecting novelty and deviation during movement.”

Key Questions Answered

Q: Does walking change how the brain processes sound?

A: Yes—neural responses to sound were stronger when participants were walking than when standing or walking in place.

Q: Does walking direction matter when we process sound?

A: Turning right or left altered how the brain responded to sounds from each ear, suggesting attention shifts during movement.

Q: Why is this important in relation to auditory processing?

A: It shows the brain may filter predictable noises, like footsteps, while boosting sensitivity to unexpected sounds—helping with safety and navigation.