Association of individual resting state EEG alpha frequency and cerebral blood flow.
Cognitive task performance differs considerably between individuals. Besides cognitive capacities, attention might be a source of such differences. The individual's EEG alpha frequency (IAF) is a putative marker of the subject's state of arousal and attention, and was found to be associated with task performance and cognitive capacities. However, little is known about the metabolic substrate (i.e. the network) underlying IAF. Here we aimed to identify this network. Correlation of IAF with regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF) in fifteen young healthy subjects revealed a network of brain areas that are associated with the modulation of attention and preparedness for external input, which are relevant for task execution. We hypothesize that subjects with higher IAF have pre-activated task-relevant networks and thus are both more efficient in the task-execution, and show a reduced fMRI-BOLD response to the stimulus, not because the absolute amount of activation is smaller, but because the additional activation by processing of external input is limited due to the higher baseline.
Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, 3000 Bern 60, Switzerland. jann@puk.unibe.ch
Kay
K
Jann
Thomas
T
Koenig
Thomas
T
Dierks
Chris
C
Boesch
Andrea
A
Federspiel
D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012146:Rest