EEG-alpha rhythms and memory processes

Updating P300: An integrative theory of P3a and P3b

“…Furthermore, pre-stimulus EEG and poststimulus ERP measures are most strongly related to the theta and alpha EEG bands Jansen and Brandt, 1991), and positive correlations have been obtained between prestimulus theta/alpha spectral power and P300 amplitude (Başar et al, 1989;Jasiukaitis and Hakerem, 1988;Pritchard et al, 1985). These results may reflect attentional mechanisms that modulate slow alpha (Klimesch, 1997;Klimesch et al, 1992Klimesch et al, , 1993, and episodic memory operations that alter fast alpha (10-12 Hz) activity (Hanslmayr et al, 2007;Klimesch, 2003). Thus, alpha band spectral power covaries with P300, which suggests this ERP is related to attention and memory neuroelectric effects (Intriligator and Polich, 1995;Polich, 1997).…”

Event-Related Oscillations in Offspring of Alcoholics: Neurocognitive Disinhibition as a Risk for Alcoholism

“…The implication of these findings highlights the following major points: (1) the deficient oscillatory activity in OA subjects may indicate possible deficits in cognitive functions as indexed by these oscillations, viz., signal detection and decision-making as elicited by delta (Basar et al 1999;Schurmann et al 2001), conscious awareness, recognition memory, and episodic retrieval as marked by theta (Klimesch et al 1994(Klimesch et al , 2001a(Klimesch et al , 2001cDoppelmayr et al 1998;Karakas et al 2000aKarakas et al , 2000bBasar et al 2001c), and attentional processing as attributed to slow alpha activity Klimesch 1997;Klimesch et al 1998); (2) The decreased oscillatory responses during the NoGo condition, in particular, may suggest deficient inhibitory control and hence a dysfunctional frontal executive mechanism as evidenced by other findings showing such impairments in alcoholics as well as children of alcoholics (Giancola et al 1993, Giancola andMoss 1998;Finn et al 1999;Ihara et al 2000;Noel et al 2001;Ratti et al 2002;Kamarajan et al, 2005a), (3) the weaker anterior-posterior communication in alpha1 band during the NoGo processing may suggest a dysfunctional long-range neural circuitry in the OA group as reported by Rangaswamy et al (2004) and Kamarajan et al (2005a), and (4) the deficient oscillatory responses and/or weaker cognitive response control, as found in naïve children of alcoholics, may be considered as an endophenotypic marker in predisposing to alcoholism and other disinhibitory disorders.…”

Vascular damage and EEG markers in subjects with mild cognitive impairment

“…The quantitative analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms in resting subjects is a low-cost but still powerful approach to the study of elderly subjects in normal aging, MCI and dementia (Gueguen et al, 1991;Maurer and Dierks, 1992;Leuchter et al, 1993;Schreiter-Gasser et al, 1993;Zappoli et al, 1995;Jelic et al, 1996Jelic et al, , 2000Huang et al, 2000;Bennys et al, 2001;Koenig et al, 2005;Babiloni et al, 2006a,b;Prichep et al, 2006;Rossini et al, 2006). The anchor point for a quantitative analysis of the EEG is the a rhythm, which dominates the EEG power spectrum in resting, awake and healthy subjects (Elul, 1972;Lopes da Silva et al, 1976Steriade and Llinas, 1988;Singer, 1993;Destexhe and Sejnowski, 1996;Klimesch, 1997Klimesch, , 1999Pfurtscheller and Lopes da Silva, 1999;Nunez et al, 2001;Suffczynski et al, 2001;Klimesch et al, 2007). Traditionally, the a power is evaluated in one or two fixed frequency bands ranging from 8 to 13 Hz.…”