Early time-locked gamma response and gender specificity

Abstract

The aim was to investigate whether gender is a causative factor in the gamma status according to which some individuals respond with time-locked, early gamma response, G+, while the others do not show this response, G-. The sample consisted of 42 volunteer participants (between 19 and 37 years of age with at least 9 years of education). There were 22 females and 20 males. Data were collected under the oddball paradigm. Auditory stimulation (10 ms r/f time, 50 ms duration, 65 dB SPL) consisted of target (2000 Hz; p = .20) stimuli that occurred randomly within a series of standard stimuli (1000 Hz; p = .80). Gamma responses were studied in the amplitude frequency characteristics, in the digitally filtered event-related potentials (f-ERPs) and in the distributions which were obtained using the recently developed time-frequency component analysis (TFCA) technique. Participants were classified into G+ and G- groups with a criterion of full agreement between the results of an automated gamma detection technique and expert opinion. The 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA on f-ERPs and 2 x 2 x 2 multivariate ANOVA on TFCA distributions showed the main effect of gamma status and gender as significant, and the interaction between gamma status and gender as nonsignificant. Accordingly, individual difference in gamma status is a reliable phenomenon, but this does not depend on gender. There are conflicting findings in the literature concerning the effect of gender on ERP components (N100, P300). The present study showed that if the gamma status is not included in research designs, it may produce a confounding effect on ERP parameters.

Intelligence and Cognitive Control

“…It can be speculated that males and females differ in their early stages of information processing that include visual sensory and perceptual operations, with no regard to the emotional content of the stimuli. This may be only true for visual stimuli, as for auditory stimuli no gender related differences in the evoked gamma response were observed (Karakaş et al, 2006). This finding is in concordance with findings on the behavioral level indicating a female superiority in perceptual speed, the ability to rapidly absorb the details of a visual stimulus, which has been recognized since the 1940s (e.g., Harshman, Hampson, & Berenbaum, 1983;Kim & Petrakis, 1998;Tyler, 1965;Wesman, 1949) and generalizes to many types of visual stimuli.…”

Brain oscillations are highly influenced by gender differences

“…Proverbio et al (2006) published results on infant happy/distressed expression indicating much larger occipital P110 response in women compared to men. Karakaş et al (2006) used auditory stimulation and found that the differences in gamma band are independent of gender. We have to note that none of these studies considered a simple physiological stimulation; they have been focused rather on facial expression, also reflecting emotional behavior, attention and working memory.…”

Neurofeedback Effects on Evoked and Induced EEG Gamma Band Reactivity to Drug-Related Cues in Cocaine Addiction

“…As a result of these findings it has been suggested that early, time locked gamma is actually a sensory oriented process (Karakaş et al, 2006). In contrast to these findings, the late and non-phase locked gamma activity (occurring in the 200–500 ms window range) varies according to the levels of task complexity and stimulus (Herrmann & Mecklinger, 2000; Tallon-Baudry & Bertrand, 1999).…”

“…In contrast to these findings, the late and non-phase locked gamma activity (occurring in the 200–500 ms window range) varies according to the levels of task complexity and stimulus (Herrmann & Mecklinger, 2000; Tallon-Baudry & Bertrand, 1999). These differences suggest that the late induced gamma response could be interpreted as perception process and higher cognitive function (Karakaş et al, 2006; Tallon-Baudry, 2003). …”

“…The gamma band (30–80 Hz), a high frequency rhythm of EEG activity, and more specifically gamma activity within 30–40 Hz range, is thought to represent the allocation of attentional resources and cognitive processes which take place in the brain (Karakaş et al, 2006; Muller et al, 2000; Tallon-Baudry et al, 1998, 2005). The gamma frequency oscillations have been speculated to play a role in several important cognitive functions.…”