Individual differences in alpha rhythm responsivity: inter-task consistency and relationships to cardiovascular and dispositional variables.
Individual differences in EEG alpha rhythm responsivity were examined with respect to: (1) consistency of response across cognitive tasks; (2) relationships to cardiovascular responsivity; and (3) relationships to dispositional variables. Inter-task correlations revealed a significant degree of stability in subjects' alpha responses to four "sensory rejection" tasks: mental arithmetic, time estimation and imagining oneself as cold or warm. Individuals evidencing greater suppression of alpha activity during mental arithmetic also displayed greater heart rate increase and greater digital vasoconstriction, as well as obtaining higher scores on the Activity subscale of the EASI-III Temperament Survey and on the "Hard Striving" subscale of the Jenkins Activity Survey for Health Prediction, a measure of the Coronary-Prone Behavior Pattern. Alpha responsivity in the time estimation and warm imagery tasks was also associated with greater heart rate increase. The results suggest that alpha responsivity is related to individual differences affecting one's attentiveness or involvement in experimental tasks.
D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D010551:Personality; D011674:Pulse; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013694:Temperament; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology