scholarly journals EEG alpha synchronization is related to top-down processing in convergent and divergent thinking

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 3505-3511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Benedek ◽  
Sabine Bergner ◽  
Tanja Könen ◽  
Andreas Fink ◽  
Aljoscha C. Neubauer
Keyword(s):  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Eeg Alpha

Aufmerksamkeitswechsel und Konzentration: Von den Funktionen zum Mechanismus

2001 ◽  
Vol 209 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Bösel
Keyword(s):  
Top Down ◽  
Eeg Alpha

Zusammenfassung. Aufmerksamkeit wird sowohl als Selektivität in der bewußter Verarbeitung oder auch als selektive neuronale Aktivierung verstanden. Die neuronalen Strukturen, die Objektdiskrimination ermöglichen, erlauben eine Interaktion von datengetriebenen und endogenen top-down Prozessen, die zu einer selektiven Bereitstellung von Verarbeitungs-Ressourcen führen. Zielgerichtetes Verhalten erfordert manchmal einen Wechsel in der Ressourcen-Bereitstellung und eine Konzentration von mentaler Aktivität. Aufmerksamkeitswechsel kann als ein zweiphasiger Prozeß verstanden werden, der aus einer breiten Mobilisierung von Gedächtnis-Ressourcen besteht (angezeigt durch EEG-Theta), gefolgt von einer re-organisierenden Einengung neuronaler Aktivität (angezeigt durch langsames EEG-Alpha). Dieser Beitrag unterstützt die Annahme, daß die Analyse des gekoppelten Wechselspiels aus Mobilisierung und Konzentration in bestimmten Teilen der posterioren und anterioren Rindenregionen ein Schlüssel für das Verständnis von Aufmerksamkeitswechsel sein könnte.

scholarly journals Classifying Creativity: Applying Machine Learning Techniques to Divergent Thinking EEG Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl E. Stevens ◽  
Darya Zabelina
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Classification Accuracy ◽  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Everyday Objects ◽  
Creativity Research ◽  
Reliable Classification ◽  
Eeg Alpha ◽  
Task Conditions

Prior research has shown that greater EEG alpha power (8-13 Hz) is characteristic of more creative individuals, and more creative task conditions. The present study investigated the potential for machine learning to classify more and less creative brain states. Participants completed an Alternate Uses Task, in which they thought of Normal or Uncommon (more creative) uses for everyday objects (e.g., brick). We hypothesized that alpha power would be greater for Uncommon (vs. Common) uses, and that a machine learning (ML) approach would enable the reliable classification data from the two conditions. Further, we expected that ML would be successful at classifying more (vs. less) creative individuals. As expected, alpha power was significantly greater for the Uncommon than for the Normal condition. Using spectrally weighted common spatial patterns to extract EEG features, and quadratic discriminant analysis, we found that classification accuracy for the two conditions varied widely among individuals, with a mean of 63.9%. For more vs. less creative individuals, 82.3% classification accuracy was attained. These findings indicate the potential for broader adoption of machine learning in creativity research.

Clustering and switching in divergent thinking: Neurophysiological correlates underlying flexibility during idea generation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Mastria ◽  
Sergio Agnoli ◽  
Marco Zanon ◽  
Selcuk Acar ◽  
Mark Runco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Alpha Band ◽  
Everyday Objects ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Eeg Alpha ◽  
The Right

EEG alpha synchronization, especially in posterior parietal cortical regions of the right hemisphere, is indicative of high internal processing demands that are typically involved in divergent thinking (DT). During the course of DT, as ideation proceeds, ideas tend to become more creative, being more likely to be drawn from new conceptual categories through the use of the cognitive mechanism of flexibility. The present study investigated whether EEG alpha synchronization can be modulated by flexibility in DT by comparing cortical activation patterns during the switch of category (switching) and the stay in the same category (clustering). Twenty participants were required to generate alternative uses of everyday objects during EEG recording. Differential results were specifically found in the lower alpha band (8-10 Hz): whereas clustering showed synchronization typically lateralized in the right posterior parietal areas, switching induced posterior parietal synchronization over both right and left hemispheres. These findings indicate that the two distinct cognitive mechanisms subsuming flexibility (switching and clustering) are associated with a different hemispheric modulation of lower alpha activity, as switching, in comparison to clustering, is related to higher power in the lower alpha band over the left hemisphere. Switching in comparison to clustering may thus require a larger investment of cognitive resources due to the exploratory process of moving from one semantic conceptual category to another in the course of creative ideation.

scholarly journals EEG alpha synchronization and functional coupling during top-down processing in a working memory task

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Sauseng ◽  
Wolfgang Klimesch ◽  
Michael Doppelmayr ◽  
Thomas Pecherstorfer ◽  
Roman Freunberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Eeg Alpha

scholarly journals Top–Down Cognitive Control in Students with a Rigid Set-on Facial Expression

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Cheremushkin ◽  
N Petrenko
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Facial Expression ◽  
Emotional Facial Expression ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Alpha Oscillations ◽  
Fixed Set ◽  
Personal Anxiety ◽  
Eeg Alpha ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
Rigid Set

Top–down cognitive control was studied in students by the model of fixed set for facial expression. In subjects with errors in the set fixing, it is weakened to the greatest extent. The hypothesis about the influence on the top–down cognitive control of the functional state of subjects caused by signs of autonomic dysfunction, personal anxiety, depression and sleep quality is considered. Keywords: top–down cognitive control, emotional facial expression, errors recognition, EEG, alpha oscillations

scholarly journals Dynamics of Alpha Control: Preparatory Suppression of Posterior Alpha Oscillations by Frontal Modulators Revealed with Combined EEG and Event-related Optical Signal

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2400-2415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle E. Mathewson ◽  
Diane M. Beck ◽  
Tony Ro ◽  
Edward L. Maclin ◽  
Kathy A. Low ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Optical Signal ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Spatiotemporal Resolution ◽  
Attention Networks ◽  
Alpha Oscillations ◽  
Eeg Alpha

We investigated the dynamics of brain processes facilitating conscious experience of external stimuli. Previously, we proposed that alpha (8–12 Hz) oscillations, which fluctuate with both sustained and directed attention, represent a pulsed inhibition of ongoing sensory brain activity. Here we tested the prediction that inhibitory alpha oscillations in visual cortex are modulated by top–down signals from frontoparietal attention networks. We measured modulations in phase-coherent alpha oscillations from superficial frontal, parietal, and occipital cortices using the event-related optical signal (EROS), a measure of neuronal activity affording high spatiotemporal resolution, along with concurrently recorded EEG, while participants performed a visual target detection task. The pretarget alpha oscillations measured with EEG and EROS from posterior areas were larger for subsequently undetected targets, supporting alpha's inhibitory role. Using EROS, we localized brain correlates of these awareness-related alpha oscillations measured at the scalp to the cuneus and precuneus. Crucially, EROS alpha suppression correlated with posterior EEG alpha power across participants. Sorting the EROS data based on EEG alpha power quartiles to investigate alpha modulators revealed that suppression of posterior alpha was preceded by increased activity in regions of the dorsal attention network and decreased activity in regions of the cingulo-opercular network. Cross-correlations revealed the temporal dynamics of activity within these preparatory networks before posterior alpha modulation. The novel combination of EEG and EROS afforded localization of the sources and correlates of alpha oscillations and their temporal relationships, supporting our proposal that top–down control from attention networks modulates both posterior alpha and awareness of visual stimuli.

Prestimulus EEG alpha activity reflects prestimulus top-down processing

2007 ◽  
Vol 422 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byoung-Kyong Min ◽  
Christoph S. Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Alpha Activity ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Eeg Alpha ◽  
Eeg Alpha Activity

Top-Down Processing and Visual Reorientation Illusions in a Virtual Reality Environment

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Mast ◽  
Charles M. Oman
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Line Length ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.

Functional Anatomy of Intensity Aspects of Attention

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Sturm
Keyword(s):  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Functional Anatomy ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Stimulus Modality ◽  
Spatial Orienting ◽  
Phasic Alertness ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
Attention System

Abstract: Behavioral and PET/fMRI-data are presented to delineate the functional networks subserving alertness, sustained attention, and vigilance as different aspects of attention intensity. The data suggest that a mostly right-hemisphere frontal, parietal, thalamic, and brainstem network plays an important role in the regulation of attention intensity, irrespective of stimulus modality. Under conditions of phasic alertness there is less right frontal activation reflecting a diminished need for top-down regulation with phasic extrinsic stimulation. Furthermore, a high overlap between the functional networks for alerting and spatial orienting of attention is demonstrated. These findings support the hypothesis of a co-activation of the posterior attention system involved in spatial orienting by the anterior alerting network. Possible implications of these findings for the therapy of neglect are proposed.

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