Abstract
The resting-state human electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectrum is dominated by alpha (8–12 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz) oscillations, and also includes non-oscillatory broadband activity inversely related to frequency (1/f activity). Gratton proposed that alpha and theta oscillations are both related to cognitive control function, though in a complementary manner. Alpha activity is hypothesized to facilitate the maintenance of representations, such as task sets in preparation for expected task conditions. In contrast, theta activity would facilitate changes in representations, such as the updating of task sets in response to unpredicted task demands. Therefore, theta should be related to reactive control (which may prompt changes in task representations), while alpha may be more relevant to proactive control (which implies the maintenance of current task representations). Less is known about the possible relationship between 1/f activity and cognitive control, which was analyzed here in an exploratory fashion. To investigate these hypothesized relationships, we recorded eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state EEG from younger and older adults and subsequently tested their performance on a cued flanker task, expected to elicit both proactive and reactive control processes. Results showed that alpha power and 1/f offset were smaller in older than younger adults, whereas theta power did not show age-related reductions. Resting alpha power and 1/f offset were associated with proactive control processes, whereas theta power was related to reactive control as measured by the cued flanker task. All associations were present over and above the effect of age, suggesting that these resting-state EEG correlates could be indicative of trait-like individual differences in cognitive control performance, which may be already evident in younger adults, and are still similarly present in healthy older adults.
Highlights
Three main features dominate the resting-state EEG power spectrum: alpha oscillations (8–12 Hz; e.g., Jensen and Mazaheri, 2010; Hanslmayr et al, 2011; Mathewson et al, 2011), theta oscillations (4–8 Hz; e.g., Jausovec et al, 2001; Pscherer et al, 2019) and non-oscillatory broadband activity inversely related to frequency, known as 1/f activity (e.g., He, 2014)
After decomposing the power spectrum into alpha power, theta power, and 1/f offset we quantified the variance in the power spectrum captured by these components across participants
−0.122 −0.083 and the error rate congruency effect (CE) (rs(36) = 0.402, p = 0.036). These results indicate that alpha power is related to proactive control processes, in a way that is independent of the contributions of theta power, and, that theta power may be related to reactive control processes, in a way that is independent of the contributions of alpha
Summary
Three main features dominate the resting-state EEG (electroencephalogram) power spectrum: alpha oscillations (8–12 Hz; e.g., Jensen and Mazaheri, 2010; Hanslmayr et al, 2011; Mathewson et al, 2011), theta oscillations (4–8 Hz; e.g., Jausovec et al, 2001; Pscherer et al, 2019) and non-oscillatory broadband activity inversely related to frequency, known as 1/f activity (e.g., He, 2014). Posterior alpha has been related to the inhibition of the processing of visual stimuli (e.g., Klimesch et al, 2007; Lorincz et al, 2009; Mathewson et al, 2009, 2011; Jensen and Mazaheri, 2010) and can be suppressed by incoming visual stimulation that needs attending (Morrell and Ross, 1953; Williamson et al, 1997). This suggests that alpha may be related to a processing mode geared at limiting the progression of perceptual information through the brain to avoid interfering with currently active representations
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