Investigating Saccade-Onset Locked EEG Signatures of Face Perception during Free-Viewing in a Naturalistic Virtual Environment
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Current research strives to investigate cognitive processes under natural conditions. Virtual reality and EEG are promising techniques combining naturalistic settings with close experimental control. However, many questions and technical challenges remain, e.g., are fixation or saccade onsets a suitable replacement as key events in continuous gaze trajectories (Amme et al., 2024), and can VR effectively capture differences across experimental conditions (Rossion & Jacques, 2008)? To address both questions, we investigate the N170 face effect in a free-viewing immersive VR study that contained houses, various background stimuli, and, notably, static and moving pedestrians to study face perception under naturalistic conditions. Our results show that aligning trials to saccade-onset leads to more well-defined ERPs, especially for the P100 component, and support that saccade-onset ERPs are the better-suited analysis method than fixation-onset ERPs for this type of experiment. Further, we observe an evolution of condition-based differences, i.e., face vs. background fixations, compatible with previous reports but extending in a large temporal window and including all electrode sites at different points in time. In summary, experiments combining VR, EEG, and eye-tracking provide further insights into the processing of faces and the relevance of saccadic onsets as event triggers under natural conditions. Significance Statement With the effort of investigating and understanding cognitive processes under naturalistic conditions, combining virtual reality and EEG can be fruitful to implement free-viewing studies. The current work combines these technologies to explore key challenges in the context of face perception in an immersive virtual environment. Our results show that saccade-onset ERPs yield more precise measurements when analyzing continuous eye-tracking data than fixation onsets. Furthermore, when processing face compared to background stimuli, distinct temporal patterns encompassing all electrode sites can be observed, offering new insights into face perception. Overall, this work highlights the potential of integrating VR and EEG to advance our understanding of cognitive processes in naturalistic settings.
Source: eNeuro
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,925
Awards: Verbundprojekt: Studienindividualisierung durch digitale, datengestützte Assistenten - SIDDATA, Teilvorhaben: Anforderungsanalyse, IT-Fachkonzept, IT-Projektmanagement und -Controlling, Softwarequalitätsmanagement und Implementierung, G5388834448, INnovative Network for Training in ToUch InteracTIVE Interfaces, GRK 2185: Situierte Kognition
OpenAlex ID: W4413967313