Associations of Alpha and Beta Interhemispheric EEG Coherences with Indices of Attentional Control and Academic Performance

Abstract

Introduction. Heretofore, research on optimizing academic performance has suffered from an inability to translate what is known about an individual’s learning behaviors to how effectively they are able to use the critical nodes and hubs in their cerebral cortex for learning. A previous study from our laboratory suggests that lower theta-beta ratios (TBRs) measured by EEG may be associated with higher academic performance in a medical school curriculum. Methods. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that TBR and academic performance may be correlated with EEG coherence, a measure of brain connectivity. We analyzed the interhemispheric coherences of the subjects involved in our prior study. TBR and coherence measurements were made at 19 scalp electrode recording sites and 171 electrode combinations with eyes open and closed (EO, EC). Control data were acquired during a session of acclimation to the research protocol 3 d before an initial examination in anatomy-physiology (control exam) and were repeated five weeks later, 3 d before a second exam covering different anatomy-physiology topics (comparison exam). Results. Between the control and comparison exams, beta coherences increased significantly at the frontal pole, frontal, parietal, midtemporal, posterior temporal, and occipital recording sites under the EO condition and at the inferior frontal, central, midtemporal, and posterior temporal sites under the EC condition. Alpha coherences increased significantly at the same sites and under the same EO/EC conditions as found for the beta coherences. The beta coherences were negatively correlated with the TBR and were positively correlated with the comparison exam score at the midfrontal electrode site (F3-F4) but only under the EO condition. Beta and alpha coherences at the midfrontal, inferior frontal midtemporal, posterior temporal, and occipital sites were also negatively correlated with the average TBR under the EO condition. Conclusions. Lower TBR, an indicator of attentional control, was associated with higher alpha and beta interhemispheric coherences measured with eyes open at sites overlying the frontal, temporal, and occipital cortices. Changes in EEG coherences and TBRs might be useful as neurophysiological measures of neuroplasticity and the efficacy of strategies for preventing academic underachievement and treatments for improving academic performance.

Resting-state electroencephalographic correlates of cognitive reserve: Moderating the age-related worsening in cognitive function

“…Alternatively, this complex pattern of positive and negative correlations between LLC and CRI may reflect differences in resting-state networks such as the DMN, dorsal attention network, and the frontoparietal network that have been previously shown to be anticorrelated in their activity ( Fox et al, 2005 ). These resting-state functional networks have been associated with the different frequency bands studied in this work (see Mantini et al, 2007 ; Hlinka et al, 2010 ; Neuner et al, 2014 ; Gorantla et al, 2020 ). Therefore, future studies potentially combining fMRI and EEG methods are needed to explore whether there is a dissociated pattern of relationships between those anticorrelated resting state networks and the observed EEG connectivity correlates of CR.…”

Resting-state electroencephalographic correlates of cognitive reserve: Moderating the age-related worsening in cognitive function

“…All this complex pattern of correlations for LLC is reflecting the highly entangled networks among brain areas, probably showing differences in resting-state networks such as DMN, dorsal attention network, and the fronto-parietal network. Although, eyes-closed alpha activity has been considered the brain's default mode (Gorantla et al, 2020), Neuner et al (2014) found a strong link between the spontaneous BOLD response of different brain areas and the power of delta, beta 1 and beta 2. In addition, other studies have associated the activation of the DMN during resting-state with higher beta power in young adults (Hlinka et al 2010;Mantini et al, 2007).…”

Open Eyes Increase Neural Oscillation and Enhance Effective Brain Connectivity of the Default Mode Network: Resting-State Electroencephalogram Research

“…For example, a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study indicated significant differences in the functional connectivity between EO and EC, mainly reflected in the thalamus’s amplitude modulation of low-frequency spontaneous activities of the sensory system ( Qian et al, 2019 ). One resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) study found that there were significant differences in brain activities between eye states, mainly reflected in increasing α and β interhemispheric coherence with the EO state in frontal, temporal and occipital lobes ( Gorantla et al, 2020 ). Currently, the number of resting-state EEG studies has increased sharply.…”

“…Researchers often use time-domain and frequency-domain methods such as independent component analysis (ICA), EEG micro-state and low-frequency θ-β ratio to compare the brain neural activities of individuals with EO and EC during resting state ( Gorantla et al, 2020 ; Tamburro et al, 2021 ). In studies that directly compare the difference between EO and EC during resting state, EEG research accounts for a relatively small proportion.…”