Spatial attention in the moving brain: Dissociable roles of neural alpha oscillations and head rotation

The brain is part of a moving body. Most insights about the relationship between neural activity and cognition come from studies involving movement-constrained participants. Here, we test the roles of neural alpha oscillations (∼10 Hz) and head movements for auditory spatial attention in human participants ( n = 33). Neural attention filtering showed up as decreased alpha power in the electroencephalogram contralateral to targets and vice versa for distractors. Gyroscopic tracking of head movements revealed consistent head turns toward lateral targets. Lateral distractors induced more variable movement patterns. Systematic miniature movements remained even when listeners were instructed not to move. Head rotations improved task accuracy by reducing target uncertainty. Trial-by-trial modulation of neural filtering and head rotation correlated positively, with neural alpha modulation being followed by lateral eye movements and head rotations. Spatial attention emerges from neural coding of relevant and irrelevant stimuli, co-occurring with lateral head rotations supporting sensory sampling.