The role of alpha oscillations in temporal binding within and across the senses

An intriguing notion in cognitive neuroscience posits that alpha oscillations mould how the brain parses the constant influx of sensory signals into discrete perceptual events. Yet, the evidence is controversial and the underlying neural mechanism unclear. Further, it is unknown whether alpha oscillations influence observers’ perceptual sensitivity (that is, temporal resolution) or their top-down biases to bind signals within and across the senses. Combining electroencephalography, psychophysics and signal detection theory, this multi-day study rigorously assessed the impact of alpha frequency on temporal binding of signals within and across the senses. In a series of two-flash discrimination experiments, 20 human observers were presented with one or two flashes together with none, one or two sounds. Our results provide robust evidence that pre-stimulus alpha frequency as a dynamic neural state and an individual’s trait index do not influence observers’ perceptual sensitivity or bias for two-flash discrimination in any of the three sensory contexts. These results challenge the notion that alpha oscillations have a profound impact on how observers parse sensory inputs into discrete perceptual events.