Interhemispheric asymmetry of EEG alpha activity at rest and during the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: relations with performance

Abstract

There are conflicting results regarding the functional asymmetry of the prefrontal cortex. Spectral power analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) activity can provide important clues about the cortical mechanisms. In this study, interhemispheric EEG alpha power asymmetry of healthy individuals was investigated during the execution of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and during rest. We analyzed alpha-1 (8.6–10.2 Hz) and alpha-2 (10.9–12.5 Hz) bands separately and found some evidence to indicate that lower and upper alpha bands reflect different cortical processes. On the other hand, greater alpha power during resting correlated with higher performance on the WCST. The lower left frontal alpha power during WCST correlated significantly with the higher WCST performance. However, greater bilateral parietal alpha power during WCST correlated with higher performance. Significant correlations between EEG activity and WCST performance were, in general, restricted to lower alpha power, both at rest and during the task. These findings are discussed with regard to attention processes reflected by lower alpha activity.