Changes in alertness are a principal component of variance in the EEG spectrum.
Minute-scale fluctuations in the normalized EEG log spectrum, when correlated with concurrent changes in level of performance on a sustained auditory detection task, showed that a single principal component of EEG spectral variance is linearly related to minute-scale changes in detection performance. The particular EEG frequencies at which this coupling is expressed are similar for most subjects under a range of task conditions, and match those recently reported from analysis of verbal self-reports during drowsiness. The one-dimensional relationship between detection performance and the EEG spectrum confirms quantitatively the intuitive assumption that minute-scale changes in behavioral alertness during drowsiness are predominantly linked to changes in global brain dynamics along a single dimension of psychophysiological arousal.
Makeig
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Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA 92186-5122, USA.
Jung
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TP
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results