title: [Are cognitive processes in a phase relation with 40 Hz EEG?].
abstract: A coherent EEG-rhythm occurring in the 40 Hz range has been shown to correlate with cognitive processes of attention in a large number of studies. We intended to evaluate whether this frequency is of specific functional significance, and whether it may represent a rhythm of excitability for cognitive processes. The model of a rhythm of excitability assumes the 40 Hz-EEG to be a timer and organizer for information processing. Event-related potentials of 12 healthy normal subjects were recorded in an experiment of attention (auditory click stimulation). In order to evaluate whether the phases of the 40 Hz-EEG represent a rhythm of excitability, responses to stimuli having similar phases at the beginning of the stimulus were selected and averaged. An effect of the different 40 Hz-phases could not be demonstrated on the amplitude and latency of N100 and P200, components of the event-related potential associated with information processing. These findings suggest that a possible timer for cognitive processes of attention is not linked to the phases of the 40 Hz-surface-EEG.
authors.affiliation: Neurochirurgische Universitätsklinik Bonn.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Linke
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurthen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
vernacular_title: Stehen kognitive Prozesse in Phasenbeziehung zum 40 Hz-EEG?