title: Gamma-band EEGs predict autonomic responses during mental arithmetic.
abstract: Relationship between gamma-band (20-80 Hz) EEGs and autonomic functions (heart rate, blood pressure, instantaneous lung flow) in a mental arithmetic task (MAT) were investigated. Subjects were instructed to add 2 integers after presentation of audio voices indicating the integers in the MAT, and to listen to the same voices without mental arithmetic in the control task. The gamma-EEGs and autonomic functions coherently changed in response to the voices before mental arithmetic in the MAT. Furthermore, an increase in gamma-EEGs went ahead of the autonomic fluctuation. The results suggest that the gamma-band activity modulates and adjusts peripheral autonomic functions in advance before actual mental activity. This is the first demonstration that cortical gamma-band activity triggers peripheral autonomic responses during mental activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Umeno
authors.forename: Etsuro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takakura
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Taketoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishijo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005544:Forecasting; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena