Alpha Desynchronization Research Articles

Individual Differences in Math Ability Determine Neurocognitive Processing of Arithmetic Complexity: A Combined fNIRS-EEG Study.

Some individuals experience more difficulties with math than others, in particular when arithmetic problems get more complex. Math ability, on one hand, and arithmetic complexity, on the other hand, seem to partly share neural underpinnings. This study addresses the question of whether this leads to an interaction of math ability and arithmetic complexity for multiplication and division on behavioral and neural levels. Previously screened individuals with high and low math ability solved multiplication and division problems in a written production paradigm while brain activation was assessed by combined functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG). Arithmetic complexity was manipulated by using single-digit operands for simple multiplication problems and operands between 2 and 19 for complex multiplication problems and the corresponding division problems. On the behavioral level, individuals with low math ability needed more time for calculation, especially for complex arithmetic. On the neural level, fNIRS results revealed that these individuals showed less activation in the left supramarginal gyrus (SMG), superior temporal gyrus (STG) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) than individuals with high math ability when solving complex compared to simple arithmetic. This reflects the greater use of arithmetic fact retrieval and also the more efficient processing of arithmetic complexity by individuals with high math ability. Oscillatory EEG analysis generally revealed theta and alpha desynchronization with increasing arithmetic complexity but showed no interaction with math ability. Because of the discovered interaction for behavior and brain activation, we conclude that the consideration of individual differences is essential when investigating the neurocognitive processing of arithmetic.

Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Cognitive-Motor Interference during Multitasking in Young and Old Adults.

The concurrent performance of cognitive and postural tasks is particularly impaired in old adults and associated with an increased risk of falls. Biological aging of the cognitive and postural control system appears to be responsible for increased cognitive-motor interference effects. We examined neural and behavioral markers of motor-cognitive dual-task performance in young and old adults performing spatial one-back working memory single and dual tasks during semitandem stance. On the neural level, we used EEG to test for age-related modulations in the frequency domain related to cognitive-postural task load. Twenty-eight healthy young and 30 old adults participated in this study. The tasks included a postural single task, a cognitive-postural dual task, and a cognitive-postural triple task (cognitive dual-task with postural demands). Postural sway (i.e., total center of pressure displacements) was recorded in semistance position on an unstable surface that was placed on top of a force plate while performing cognitive tasks. Neural activation was recorded using a 64-channel mobile EEG system. EEG frequencies were attenuated by the baseline postural single-task condition and demarcated in nine Regions-of-Interest (ROIs), i.e., anterior, central, posterior, over the cortical midline, and both hemispheres. Our findings revealed impaired cognitive dual-task performance in old compared to young participants in the form of significantly lower cognitive performance in the triple-task condition. Furthermore, old adults compared with young adults showed significantly larger postural sway, especially in cognitive-postural task conditions. With respect to EEG frequencies, young compared to old participants showed significantly lower alpha-band activity in cognitive-cognitive-postural triple-task conditions compared with cognitive-postural dual tasks. In addition, with increasing task difficulty, we observed synchronized theta and delta frequencies, irrespective of age. Task-dependent alterations of the alpha frequency band were most pronounced over frontal and central ROIs, while alterations of the theta and delta frequency bands were found in frontal, central, and posterior ROIs. Theta and delta synchronization exhibited a decrease from anterior to posterior regions. For old adults, task difficulty was reflected by theta synchronization in the posterior ROI. For young adults, it was reflected by alpha desynchronization in bilateral anterior ROIs. In addition, we could not identify any effects of task difficulty and age on the beta frequency band. Our results shed light on age-related cognitive and postural declines and how they interact. Modulated alpha frequencies during high cognitive-postural task demands in young but not old adults might be reflective of a constrained neural adaptive potential in old adults. Future studies are needed to elucidate associations between the identified age-related performance decrements with task difficulty and changes in brain activity.

Neural evidence accounting for interindividual variability of the McGurk illusion

The McGurk illusion is experienced to various degrees among the general population. Previous studies have implicated the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) and auditory cortex (AC) as regions associated with this interindividual variability. We sought to further investigate the neurophysiology underlying this variability using a variant of the McGurk illusion design. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while human subjects were presented with videos of a speaker uttering the consonant-vowels (CVs) /ba/ and /fa/, which were mixed and matched with audio of /ba/ and /fa/ to produce congruent and incongruent conditions. Subjects were also presented with unimodal stimuli of silent videos and audios of the CVs. They responded to whether they heard (or saw in the silent condition) /ba/ or /fa/. An illusion during the incongruent conditions was deemed successful when individuals heard the syllable conveyed by mouth movements. We hypothesized that individuals who experience the illusion more strongly should exhibit more robust desynchronization of alpha (7–12 Hz) at fronto-central and temporal sites, emphasizing more engagement of neural generators at the AC and STS. We found, however, that compared to weaker illusion perceivers, stronger illusion perceivers exhibited greater alpha synchronization at fronto-central and posterior temporal sites, which is consistent with inhibition of auditory representations. These findings suggest that stronger McGurk illusion perceivers possess more robust cross-modal sensory gating mechanisms whereby phonetic representations not conveyed by the visual system are inhibited, and in turn reinforcing perception of the visually targeted phonemes.

P51-S Oscillatory activity in motor episodes of REM sleep behaviour disorder

Background REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia, characterized by motor conducts that evoke the content of dreams and its association with alpha-synucleinopathies is well established. Little is known about the part that the cerebral cortex plays in its pathophysiology. Differences in movement-related cortical activity have been described between PD patients and controls and motor symptoms and signs of PD patients “disappear” in RBD during motor episodes while in REM sleep. Therefore the study of movement-related cortical changes during RBD between patients with and without Parkinson’s Disease might help understand these phenomena. Materials and Methods Polysomnographic studies from patients diagnosed with RBD were analyzed, 7 with Parkinson’s Disease and 8 without motor alterations, selecting fragments with the presence of limb movements. The cortical activity in temporal relationship to these movements was evaluated through time frequency transforms and statistical analyses. Results Our analyses showed a desynchronization of alpha and beta activity (10–30 Hz) that began shortly before the onset of the movement, and was followed by a post-movement synchronization in the 10–20 Hz range. An increase in gamma activity around 40 Hz was also observed during movement. No statistical differences were found between the two groups in our study. Conclusions The cortical activity associated with limb movements in RBD motor episodes possesses a similar configuration to the signal detected in relation to movements performed under circumstances such as wakefulness. This finding supports the participation of the primary motor cortex in RBD, with or without Parkinson’s Disease.

Effect of Complexity on Frontal Event Related Desynchronisation in Mental Rotation Task.

A complexity (orientation and shape of stimuli) in the mental rotation (MR) task often affects reaction time (RT) and response accuracy, but the nature of such reflections in neuroscientific research is commonly undocumented. A number of studies have explored the effect of complexity and subsequently noted down the differences in performance. However, a few studies explored complexity (in the term of angular disparity) and cognitive strategies with respect to correct responses only. In contrast, the present study investigated frontal alpha desynchronization with reference to the complexity and proportions of correct and incorrect responses. Behavioral and neurophysiological responses were investigated to understand the switching between strategies (Analytic vs. Holistic). Results showed longer response time with respect to increased complexity. Frontal alpha desynchronization increased for difficult trials and incorrect responses, suggesting a higher utilization of cognitive resources at the frontal region during the MR task. Higher left frontal desynchronization reflected a trading off between strategies for difficult trials. Taken together, these findings suggest that the effect of stimuli complexity is more nuanced than implied by a simple hemispheric dichotomy for frontal cortex and discuss possible future directions to better understand the multitudinous brain mechanisms involved in MR.

Event-related alpha desynchronization in touch – Comparing attention and perception

An event-related decrease in alpha power contralateral to the presentation of a stimulus is now a well-established phenomenon. Two distinct accounts of the functional role of alpha changes are present in the literature that either focus on alpha changes observed during attentional or simple perceptual tasks. This study directly compares tasks that invoke alpha decreases during exogenous, endogenous and perceptual processing. Using a data driven approach to compare alpha changes we show that alpha decreases differ only between exogenous and endogenous attention tasks for only a short time window, 500–600 ms after cue onset. We suggest this indicates a role for alpha in voluntary orientating and stimulus predictability.

Dissociating neural activity associated with the subjective phenomenology of monocular stereopsis: An EEG study

The subjective phenomenology associated with stereopsis, of solid tangible objects separated by a palpable negative space, is conventionally thought to be a by-product of the derivation of depth from binocular disparity. However, the same qualitative impression has been reported in the absence of disparity, e.g., when viewing pictorial images monocularly through an aperture. Here we aimed to explore if we could identify dissociable neural activity associated with the qualitative impression of stereopsis in the absence of the processing of binocular disparities. We measured EEG activity while subjects viewed pictorial (non-stereoscopic) images of 2D and 3D geometric forms under four different viewing conditions (binocular, monocular, binocular aperture, monocular aperture). EEG activity was analysed by oscillatory source localization (beamformer technique) to examine power change in occipital and parietal regions across viewing and stimulus conditions in targeted frequency bands (alpha: 8–13 Hz & gamma: 60–90 Hz). We observed expected event-related gamma synchronization and alpha desynchronization in occipital cortex and predominant gamma synchronization in parietal cortex across viewing and stimulus conditions. However, only the viewing condition predicted to generate the strongest impression of stereopsis (monocular aperture) revealed significantly elevated gamma synchronization within the parietal cortex for the critical contrasts (3D vs. 2D form). These findings suggest dissociable neural processes specific to the qualitative impression of stereopsis as distinguished from disparity processing.

Consumer Neuroscience and Digital/Social Media Health/Social Cause Advertisement Effectiveness.

This research investigated the use of consumer neuroscience to improve and determine the effectiveness of action/emotion-based public health and social cause (HSC) advertisements. Action-based advertisements ask individuals to ‘do something’ such as ‘act’, ‘share’, make a ‘pledge’ or complete a ‘challenge’ on behalf of a brand, such as doing ‘something good, somewhere, for someone else’. Public health messages as noncommercial advertisements attempt to positively change behavioural intent or increase awareness. Australian health expenditure was $180.7 billion AUD (Australian dollars) in 2016/17 with $17 million AUD spent on government health campaigns. However, evaluation of health advertisement effectiveness has been difficult to determine. Few studies use neuroscience techniques with traditional market research methods. A 2-part study with an exploratory design was conducted using (1) electroencephalography (EEG) using a 64 channel EEG wet cap (n = 47); and (2) a Qualtrics online psychometric survey (n = 256). Participants were asked to make a donation before and after viewing 7 HSC digital/social media advertisements and logos (6 action/emotion-based; 1 control) to measure changes in behavioural intent. Attention is considered a key factor in determining advertising effectiveness. EEG results showed theta synchronisation (increase)/alpha desynchronisation (decrease) indicating attention with episodic memory encoding. sLORETA results displayed approach responses to action/emotion-based advertisements with left prefrontal and right parietal cortex activation. EEG and survey results showed the greatest liking for the ManUp action/emotion-based advertisement which used male facial expressions of raw emotion and vulnerability. ManUp also had the highest increased amount donated after viewing. Lower theta amplitude results for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) action/emotion-based advertisement indicated that novel (possessing distinct features) rather than attractive/conventional faces were more appealing, while the rapid presentation of faces was less effective. None of the highest peak amplitudes for each ad occurred when viewing brand logos within the advertisement. This research contributes to the academic consumer neuroscience, advertising effectiveness, and social media literature with the use of action/challenge/emotion-based marketing strategies, which remains limited, while demonstrating the value in combining EEG and neuroscientific techniques with traditional market research methods. The research provides a greater understanding of advertising effectiveness and changes in behavioural intent with managerial implications regarding the effective use of action/challenge/emotion-based HSC communications to potentially help save a life and reduce expenditure on ineffectual HSC marketing campaigns.

Investigating the Effect of Intrinsic Motivation on Alpha Desynchronization Using Sample Entropy.

The effect of motivation and attention could play an important role in providing personalized learning services and improving learners toward smart education. These effects on brain activity could be quantified by EEG and open the path to analyze the efficiency of services during the learning process. Many studies reported the appearance of EEG alpha desynchronization during the attention period, resulting in better cognitive performance. Motivation was also found to be reflected in EEG. This study investigated the effect of intrinsic motivation on the alpha desynchronization pattern in terms of the complexity of time series data. The sample entropy method was used to quantify the complexity of event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) of EEG data. We found that when participants can remember the stimulus, ERSP was significantly less complex than when they cannot. However, the effect of intrinsic motivation cannot be defined by using sample entropy directly. ERSP’s main effect showed that motivation affects the complexity of ERSP data; longer continuous alpha desynchronization patterns were found when participants were motivated. Therefore, we introduced an algorithm to identify the longest continuous alpha desynchronization pattern. The method allowed us to understand that intrinsic motivation has an effect on recognition at the frontal and left parietal area directly.

Working memory load affects early affective responses to concrete and abstract words differently: Evidence from ERPs.

Early posterior negativity (EPN) is an early-occurring, event-related, potential that is elicited by pictures and words that have highly arousing characteristics. Whilst EPN has been found with words presented in isolation several times, different types of words have shown quite different effects across different types of tasks. One possible reason for this is that memory and attentional demands may affect the way semantic features of words are processed, and this may modulate EPN. This was investigated in a silent reading task using abstract and concrete words of negative and neutral valence and a dual phonological working memory task to manipulate memory load. The results showed that abstract but not concrete words elicited EPN, and this may have affected downstream processing. Further analyses examining alpha desynchronization showed that negative concrete words appeared to be significantly affected by the memory load manipulation, unlike negative abstract words. These results provide evidence that the processing of features in negative concrete words is more affected by working memory and attentional demands than the processing of features in negative abstract words, and this may be responsible for the failure of negative concrete words to elicit EPN in this study. Thus, the extent to which words elicit EPN appears to be dependent on both their semantic representations and competing cognitive processes. These results provide a potential explanation for some of the differences that have been reported in previous experiments as well as insight into how memory and attention can affect the processing of the semantic features of words.

Alpha desynchronization during simple working memory unmasks pathological aging in cognitively healthy individuals.

Our aim is to explore if cognitive challenge combined with objective physiology can reveal abnormal frontal alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD), in early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We used quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) to investigate brain activities during N-back working memory (WM) processing at two different load conditions (N = 0 or 2) in an aging cohort. We studied 60–100 year old participants, with normal cognition, and who fits one of two subgroups from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins: cognitively healthy (CH) with normal amyloid/tau ratio (CH-NAT, n = 10) or pathological amyloid/tau ratio (CH-PAT, n = 14). We recorded behavioral performances, and analyzed alpha power and alpha spectral entropy (SE) at three occasions: during the resting state, and at event-related desynchronization (ERD) [250 ~ 750 ms] during 0-back and 2-back. During 0-back WM testing, the behavioral performance was similar between the two groups, however, qEEG notably differentiated CH-PATs from CH-NATs on the simple, 0-back testing: Alpha ERD decreased from baseline only in the parietal region in CH-NATs, while it decreased in all brain regions in CH-PATs. Alpha SE did not change in CH-NATs, but was increased from baseline in the CH-PATs in frontal and left lateral regions (p<0.01), and was higher in the frontal region (p<0.01) of CH-PATs compared to CH-NATs. The alpha ERD and SE analyses suggest there is frontal lobe dysfunction during WM processing in the CH-PAT stage. Additional power and correlations with behavioral performance were also explored. This study provide pilot information to further evaluate whether this biomarker has clinical significance.

Dynamics of the EEG sensorimotor and alpha rhythm amplitude patterns in a training series of controlling the power platform with visual feedback

The study of the EEG alpha reactivity patterns in the prefrontal, central, parietal and occipital regions involved 25 healthy male subjects who participated in four training sessions of controlling the power platform with visual feedback. A significant prefrontal alpha rhythm synchronization was found which was not essentially modulated in a series of subsequent trainings. A significant desynchronization of the occipital alpha was registered for the second session which gradually increased up to the fourth session. The sensorimotor alpha rhythm didn’t show regular patterns. The use of the dominant (right) hand resulted in a significant desynchronization of the parietal alpha in the right hemisphere in the third and the fourth training sessions.

Understanding neural synchronization from source space magnetoencephalographic and electroencephalographic data

Neuroaesthetic research suggests that aesthetic appreciation results from the interaction between the object perceptual features and the perceiver's sensory processing dynamics. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between aesthetic appreciation and attentional modulation at a behavioural and psychophysiological level.In a first experiment, fifty-eight healthy participants performed a visual search task with abstract stimuli containing more or less natural spatial frequencies and subsequently were asked to give an aesthetic evaluation of the images. The results evidenced that response times were faster for more appreciated stimuli.In a second experiment, we recorded visual evoked potentials (VEPs) during exposure to the same stimuli. The results showed, only for more appreciated images, an enhancement in C1 and N1, P3 and N4 VEP components. Moreover, we found increased attention-related occipital alpha desynchronization for more appreciated images.We interpret these data as indicative of the existence of a correlation between aesthetic appreciation and perceptual processing enhancement, both at a behavioural and at a neurophysiological level.

From eyes-closed to eyes-open: Role of cholinergic projections in EC-to-EO alpha reactivity revealed by combining EEG and MRI.

Alpha rhythm (8 to 12 Hz) observed in EEG over human posterior cortex is prominent during eyes-closed (EC) resting and attenuates during eyes-open (EO) resting. Research shows that the degree of EC-to-EO alpha blocking or alpha desynchronization, termed alpha reactivity here, is a neural marker of cognitive health. We tested the role of acetylcholine in EC-to-EO alpha reactivity by applying a multimodal neuroimaging approach to a cohort of young adults and a cohort of older adults. In the young cohort, simultaneous EEG-fMRI was recorded from twenty-one young adults during both EO and EC resting. In the older cohort, functional MRI was recorded from forty older adults during EO and EC resting, along with FLAIR and diffusion MRI. For a subset of twenty older adults, EEG was recorded during EO and EC resting in a separate session. In both young and older adults, functional connectivity between the basal nucleus of Meynert (BNM), the major source of cortical acetylcholine, and the visual cortex increased from EC to EO, and this connectivity increase was positively associated with alpha reactivity; namely, the stronger the BNM-visual cortex functional connectivity increase from EC to EO, the larger the EC-to-EO alpha desynchronization. In older adults, lesions of the fiber tracts linking BNM and visual cortex quantified by leukoaraiosis volume, associated with reduced alpha reactivity. These findings support a role of acetylcholine and particularly cholinergic pathways in mediating EC-to-EO alpha reactivity and suggest that impaired alpha reactivity could serve as a marker of the integrity of the cholinergic system.

Mu rhythm desynchronization is specific to action execution and observation: Evidence from time-frequency and connectivity analysis

Mu desynchronization is the attenuation of EEG power in the alpha frequency range recorded over central scalp locations thought to reflect motor cortex activation. Mu desynchronization during observation of an action is believed to reflect mirroring system activation in humans. However, this notion has recently been questioned because, among other reasons, the potential contamination of mu rhythm and occipital alpha activity induced by attention processes following presentation of visual stimuli in observation conditions. This study examined the validity of mu desynchronization as a measure of mirroring system activation in infants and further investigated the pattern of functional connectivity between the central and occipital regions during execution and observation of movement. EEG was recorded while 46 9-month-old infants executed grasping actions and observed an experimenter grasping. Current source density (CSD) was applied to EEG data and, time-frequency and connectivity analyses were performed in CSD transformed data. Mu desynchronization was evident over central regions during both execution and observation of movements. Independent alpha desynchronization over occipital region was also present in both conditions. The connectivity analyses revealed that central-occipital areas were functionally more connected compared to other areas of the brain during observation of movements. Collectively, the results demonstrate the validity of mu desynchronization as an index of infant mirroring system activity and support the proposal of a functional connection between distinct mirroring and attention processes during observation of action.

Alpha oscillations reveal implicit visual processing of motion in hemianopia

After lesion or deafferentation of the primary visual cortex, hemianopic patients experience loss of conscious vision in their blind field. However, due to the spared colliculo-extrastriate pathway, they might retain the ability to implicitly process motion stimuli through the activation of spared dorsal-extrastriate areas, despite the absence of awareness. To test this hypothesis, Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from a group of hemianopic patients without blindsight (i.e., who performed at chance in different forced-choice tasks), while motion stimuli, static stimuli or no stimuli (i.e., blank condition) were presented either in their intact or in their blind visual field. EEG analyses were performed in the time-frequency domain. The presentation of both motion and static stimuli in the intact field induced synchronization in the theta band and desynchronization both in the alpha and the beta band. In contrast, for stimuli presented in the blind field, significantly greater desynchronization in the alpha range was observed only after the presentation of motion stimuli, compared to the blank condition, over posterior parietal-occipital electrodes in the lesioned hemisphere, at a late time window (500–800 msec). No alpha desynchronization was elicited by static stimuli. These results show that hemianopic patients can process only visual signals relying on the activation of the dorsal pathway (i.e., motion stimuli) in the absence of awareness and suggest different patterns of electrophysiological activity for conscious and unconscious visual processing. Specifically, visual processing in the absence of awareness elicits an activity limited to the alpha range, most likely reflecting a “local” process, occurring within the extrastriate areas and not participating in inter-areal communication. This also suggests a response specificity in this frequency band for implicit visual processing. In contrast, visual awareness evokes changes in different frequency bands, suggesting a “global” process, accomplished by activity in a wide range of frequencies, probably within and across cortical areas.

Resting heart rate variability in young women is a predictor of EEG reactions to linguistic ambiguity in sentences

Recent research has found a relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive control mechanisms underlying various experimental tasks. This study explored the interaction between gender and resting-state HRV in brain oscillatory activity during visual recognition of linguistic ambiguity while taking state and trait anxiety scores into account. It is well known that stress or anxiety increases arousal levels, particularly under uncertainty situations. We tasked 50 young Mandarin speakers (26 women; average age 26.00 ± 4.449) with the recognition of linguistic ambiguity in English (foreign) sentences with the purpose of imposing a sense of uncertainty in decision-making. Our results revealed a dependency between resting-state HRV and theta/alpha power in individual women. Low HRV women showed stronger theta/alpha desynchronization compared with their high HRV counterparts, independent of topographic localization. However, low and high HRV men exhibited comparable theta/alpha activity. Trait anxiety scores affected alpha power in the parieto-occipital regions, whereas men with higher scores and women with lower scores showed stronger alpha desynchronization. We posit that stress-provoking situations may impose additional effects on theta/alpha desynchronization in the frontal and temporal regions, a condition in which the interdependency between brain oscillatory activity and resting-state HRV could interact with cognitive control differently in men and women.

P17. Impaired auditory attention in adolescents with developmental dyslexia

Theoretical background Developmental dyslexia (DD) refers to the pathological impairment in the acquisition of reading and/or writing skills that is not accounted for by biological age, intelligence or inadequate schooling (WHO, 2011). It is hypothesized that DD relies, at least in part, on the impaired ability to shift attention to relevant information (Hari and Renvall, 2001). On a neurophysiological level, attention is represented by alpha oscillations (about 8–12 Hz). In adults with DD, recent studies showed altered alpha oscillations during the processing of auditory and visual stimuli (Dhar et al., 2010) but also in resting state (Papagiannopoulou and Lagopoulos, 2016). However, until today, there is only sparse knowledge on auditory attention and the underlying neural mechanisms in adolescents with DD. Methods A sample of adolescents with diagnosed DD (Mean age: 14.29 years, SD: 1.46) and an age-matched control group (CG) participated in this study. In balanced order they performed two auditory spatial-cueing paradigms. In the exogenous paradigm, cue and target tones were presented monaurally at Stimulus onset Asynchrony (SOA) 100 ms and 250 ms. 50% of the trials consisted of valid cues. Catch trials (cue only) were intermittently presented. Participants had to respond as fast as possible whenever a target tone was presented. In the endogenous paradigm, cue and target tones were presented at SOAs between 1000 ms and 1500 ms. 80% of the trials consisted of valid cues. During both tasks EEG data was continuously recorded. Results While the CG showed an inhibition of return (IOR) i.e. reduced RT at invalid compared to valid cues with SOA 250 ms, no such effect was present in the DD sample. ERPs measured at the vertex electrode revealed prolonged peak latencies for target stimuli for both valid and invalid trials at SOA 250 ms in DD compared to CG. In the endogenous task, we found increased alpha desynchronization in the post-cue phase over left auditory cortex (AC) regions in DD compared to CG. Notably, this pattern was found irrespective of the site at which the cue was presented. Discussion The lack of an IOR in adolescents with DD demonstrates a decreased withdrawal of attention and suggests reduced orienting towards novel locations. Considering the endogenous task, our findings indicate a maladaptive inhibition of the left AC in DD that, in turn, might account for dysfunctional processing of incoming acoustic information. Our findings suggest altered auditory attention as potential basis for higher order language skills. Future studies investigating attention processes in pre-reading children will shed more light on whether attention is a cause of impaired language skills rather than the consequence of a maladaptive compensation over the course of reading/ writing acquisition.

EEG alpha activity during imagining creative moves in soccer decision-making situations

This study investigated task-related changes of EEG alpha power while participants were imagining creative moves in soccer decision-making situations. After presenting brief video clips of a soccer scene, participants had to imagine themselves as the acting player and to think either of a creative/original or an obvious/conventional move (control condition) that might lead to a goal. Performance of the soccer task generally elicited comparatively strong alpha power decreases at parietal and occipital sites, indicating high visuospatial processing demands. This power decrease was less pronounced in the creative vs. control condition, reflecting a more internally oriented state of information processing characterized by more imaginative mental simulation rather than stimulus-driven bottom-up processing. In addition, more creative task performance in the soccer task was associated with stronger alpha desynchronization at left cortical sites, most prominently over motor related areas. This finding suggests that individuals who generated more creative moves were more intensively engaged in processes related to movement imagery. Unlike the domain-specific creativity measure, individual's trait creative potential, as assessed by a psychometric creativity test, was globally positively associated with alpha power at all cortical sites. In investigating creative processes implicated in complex creative behavior involving more ecologically valid demands, this study showed that thinking creatively in soccer decision-making situations recruits specific brain networks supporting processes related to visuospatial attention and movement imagery, while the relative increase in alpha power in more creative conditions and in individuals with higher creative potential might reflect a pattern relevant across different creativity domains.

Electrophysiological activity is associated with vulnerability of Internet addiction in non-clinical population

This study investigated the electrophysiological activity associated with vulnerability of problematic Internet use in non-clinical population. The resting EEG spectrum of alpha (8–13 Hz) rhythm was measured in 22 healthy subjects who have used the Internet for recreational purpose. The vulnerability of Internet addiction was assessed using Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Assessment for Computer and Internet Addiction-Screener (AICA-S) respectively. Depression and impulsivity were also measured with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11(BIS-11) respectively. The IAT was positively correlated with alpha power obtained during eyes closed (EC, r = 0.50, p = 0.02) but not during eyes open (EO). This was further supported by a negative correlation (r = −0.48, p = 0.02) between IAT scores and alpha desynchronization (EO-EC). These relationships remained significant following correction for multiple comparisons. Furthermore, The BDI score showed positive correlation with alpha asymmetry at mid-lateral (r = 0.54, p = 0.01) and mid-frontal (r = 0.46, p = 0.03) regions during EC, and at mid-frontal (r = 0.53, p = 0.01) region during EO. The current findings suggest that there are associations between neural activity and the vulnerability of problematic Internet use. Understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying problematic Internet use would contribute to improved early intervention and treatment.