Prestimulus Oscillatory Activity in the Alpha Band Predicts Visual Discrimination Ability

By Hanneke van Dijk, Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen, Robert Oostenveld, Ole Jensen. Journal of Neuroscience, 2008

864 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Although the resting and baseline states of the human electroencephalogram and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) are dominated by oscillations in the alpha band (∼10 Hz), the functional role of these oscillations remains unclear. In this study we used MEG to investigate how spontaneous oscillations in humans presented before visual stimuli modulate visual perception. Subjects had to report if there was a subtle difference in gray levels between two superimposed presented discs. We then compared the prestimulus brain activity for correctly (hits) versus incorrectly (misses) identified stimuli. We found that visual discrimination ability decreased with an increase in prestimulus alpha power. Given that reaction times did not vary systematically with prestimulus alpha power changes in vigilance are not likely to explain the change in discrimination ability. Source reconstruction using spatial filters allowed us to identify the brain areas accounting for this effect. The dominant sources modulating visual perception were localized around the parieto-occipital sulcus. We suggest that the parieto-occipital alpha power reflects functional inhibition imposed by higher level areas, which serves to modulate the gain of the visual stream.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2f61681dfe871e9edd1dff9ab0ae6535da445bdd

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In Cognitive Neuroscience

Citations in the corpus

Resting‐state networks show dynamic functional connectivity in awake humans and anesthetized macaques (2013, background): “…as a source of variability in evoked responses [Arieli et al., 1996; Azouz and Gray, 1999; Becker et al., 2011; Fiser et al., 2004; Fox et al., 2006b], perception [Hesselmann et al., 2008b; Sadaghiani et al., 2009; Sapir et al., 2005; van Dijk et al., 2008], and behavior [Hesselmann et al., 2008a].”
Rhythms For Cognition: Communication Through Coherence (2015, neutral): “The crucial characteristic of alpha seems to be that it blocks the communication of local activity to connected neuronal groups (van Dijk et al., 2008; Zumer et al., 2014).”
Neurophysiological and Computational Principles of Cortical Rhythms in Cognition (2010, background): “As a result, the threshold of conscious perception varies with the phase of theta/ alpha band EEG oscillations (137, 274, 657, 995, 1077).”
Shaping Functional Architecture by Oscillatory Alpha Activity: Gating by Inhibition (2010, background): “Reproduced from Haegens et al. (2009). power modulates both perception of visual and somatosensory stimuli (Linkenkaer-Hansen et al., 2004; Babiloni et al., 2006; Hanslmayr et al., 2007; van Dijk et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2008; Kelly et al., 2009; Mazaheri et al., 2009; Schubert et al., 2009).”
Entrainment of brain oscillations by transcranial alternating current stimulation. (2014, positive): “Specifically, it has been demonstrated that high prestimulus alpha power is predictive of decreased visual detection performance in a phase-dependent fashion [15, 25, 26].”
The Berlin Brain–Computer Interface: Non-Medical Uses of BCI Technology (2010, background): “A first body of evidence links medium and lower amplitudes in the alpha-frequency band (7–14 Hz) to better perception in somatosensory and visual discrimination tasks (Pfurtscheller and da Silva, 1999; Hanslmayr et al., 2005; Palva and Palva, 2007; van Dijk et al., 2008).”
Laminar differences in gamma and alpha coherence in the ventral stream (2011, background): “In the deep layers of V4, there was a small decrease in alpha after stimulus onset, which reached statistical significance [t(42) = 2.”
On the Role of Prestimulus Alpha Rhythms over Occipito-Parietal Areas in Visual Input Regulation: Correlation or Causation? (2010, background): “Unsurprisingly, neuronal oscillations therefore display ongoing variability in power even at baseline (Linkenkaer-Hansen et al., 2001), in addition to showing sensory-driven changes (Bauer et al., 2006; Gross et al., 2007; van Dijk et al., 2008).”
The Phase of Ongoing EEG Oscillations Predicts Visual Perception (2009, background): “…et al., 2000; Sauseng et al., 2005; Thut et al., 2006; Fries et al., 2008), and perceptual performance (Ergenoglu et al., 2004; Gonzalez Andino et al., 2005; Babiloni et al., 2006; Thut et al., 2006; Womelsdorf et al., 2006; Hanslmayr et al., 2007; Romei et al., 2008; van Dijk et al., 2008).”
The Role of Alpha-Band Brain Oscillations as a Sensory Suppression Mechanism during Selective Attention (2011, background): “This report specifically addresses evidence for the role of oscillatory brain mechanisms in selective attention (e.g., Vanni et al., 1997; Foxe et al., 1998; Gruber et al., 1999; Shibata et al., 1999; Sokolov et al., 1999; Worden et al., 2000; Sauseng et al., 2005; Yamagishi et al., 2005; Kelly et a”
To See or Not to See: Pre-stimulus Alpha Phase Predicts Visual Awareness (2009, result): “Specifically, we found decreased detection as a function of increased power, in line with past evidence (Ergenoglu et al., 2004; Thut et al., 2006; Hanslmayr et al., 2007; van Dijk et al., 2008; but see LinkenkaerHansen et al., 2004; Babiloni et al., 2006).”