Oscillatory sensory stimulation in the delta-band enhancestemporal prediction performance

Abstract

Predicting the time point when an event will occur is fundamental for adaptive behavior, yet it remains unresolved whether temporal prediction can be influenced by low-frequency rhythmic modulation of sensory stimuli. Here, we tested whether external rhythmic sensory stimulation at a frequency in the delta range (0.5 - 3 Hz) alters performance in a visual temporal prediction task. Participants judged whether a moving visual stimulus reappeared too early or too late after disappearing behind an occluder, while the temporal structure of crossmodal sensory input was manipulated across two behavioral sessions. Results indicated that in the visual-auditory conditions, oscillatory stimulation in either the visual or auditory modality improved performance, whereas decaying sensory intensity over time impaired performance. In visual-tactile conditions, oscillatory visual stimulation also enhanced sensitivity, but rhythmic tactile stimulation did not produce a comparable benefit in performance. Critically, tactile stimulation improved performance only when aligned to the expected disappearance of the visual stimulus, demonstrating that the phase relationship between sensory input and intrinsic delta oscillations is behaviorally relevant. Together, these findings indicate that temporal prediction depends on the temporal structure of sensory input and support the relevance of delta-band oscillations in predictive behavior across and within sensory modalities. Hence, rhythmic modulation of sensory stimuli may provide a tool to enhance temporal prediction accuracy by stimulating oscillatory neural dynamics.