Modulation of Visual Alpha Oscillations in Expert and Novice Surgeons Performing Sutures

Abstract BACKGROUND: Surgeons learn to perform highly repetitive movements, improving their speed and precision. Simple movements elicit a synchronization of alpha frequency band (8–12 Hz) in the occipital area, reflecting the inhibition of irrelevant areas. Yet, there is limited evidence on alpha modulation by movement performance and task experience and demands for complex visuo-motor skills. In this study we evaluated the extent of the modulation of the electroencephalogram (EEG) power in the alpha frequency band (8–12 Hz) in the visual areas and its relationship with suture performance to quantify the attentional modulation in expert surgeons and medical students. The EEG based measurements might offer a relevant measure of attentional modulation, to evaluate the progression and outcomes of learning and training surgical programs. Two groups of expert surgeons and medical students performed 6 surgical exercises on a suture pad, under two different task demands. They performed an open suture technique under relaxed conditions and stressed conditions. We obtained the EEG alpha power spectra, using a 20-20 system EEG device while suturing as well as in a baseline, eyes-open, condition as well as the number as sutures as an index of performance.RESULTS: Surgical expertise resulted in twice the number of sutures and greater task demands increased suture performance by 20%. In contrast, alpha power in the occipital areas is greater in surgeons and medical students performing sutures, relative to the baseline, yet it is not modulated by expertise or task demands. Interestingly, the alpha power correlated positively with suture performance in surgeons, but not in the medical students.CONCLUSIONS: The modulation of the EEG alpha power is consistent with the inhibitory-attentional hypothesis of alpha rhythm in a complex visuo-motor task, suggesting that the attentional resources allocated to the visual areas are redistributed in the somatosensory and motor areas, in addition to the visual areas during the suture task relative to the baseline. Furthermore, the association of alpha power with suture performance suggests that, unlike medical students, experts have a gradual redistribution of the inhibitory-attentional resources linked to their suture performance.

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Spectral power shifts within the EEG alpha frequency band associated with chronic heavy marihuana (THC) use

Biological Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/0006-3223(90)90384-e ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 27 (9) ◽

pp. 177

Keyword(s):

Frequency Band ◽

Spectral Power ◽

Power Shifts ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

Eeg Alpha

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Pupil Dilation and EEG Alpha Frequency Band Power Reveal Load on Executive Functions for Link-Selection Processes during Text Reading

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0130608 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e0130608 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Christian Scharinger ◽

Yvonne Kammerer ◽

Peter Gerjets

Keyword(s):

Executive Functions ◽

Frequency Band ◽

Pupil Dilation ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

Band Power ◽

Selection Processes ◽

Text Reading ◽

Eeg Alpha

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Human resting-state electrophysiological networks in the alpha frequency band: Evidence from magnetoencephalographic source imaging

10.1101/142091 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

R. Hindriks ◽

C. Micheli ◽

D. Mantini ◽

G. Deco

Keyword(s):

Frequency Band ◽

Resting State ◽

Functional Networks ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Source Imaging ◽

Data Set ◽

Human Cortex ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

Human Connectome Project

AbstractIn the resting-state, extended regions of the human cortex engage in electrical oscillations within the alpha-frequency band (7–14 Hz) that can be measured outside the head by magnetoencephalography (MEG). Given the accumulating evidence that alpha oscillations play a fundamental role in attentional processing and working memory, it becomes increasingly important to characterize their cortical organization. Event-related studies have demonstrated that attentional allocation can modulate alpha power selectively within the visual, auditory, and somatosensory cortices, as well as in higher-level regions. Such studies demonstrate the existence of multiple generators by exploiting experimental contrasts and trial-averaging. The identification of alpha generators from resting-state data alone has proven much harder and, consequently, relatively little is known about their organization: Apart from the classical visual, somatosensory, and auditory rhythms, it is unclear how many more generators can be observed with MEG and how they are organized into functional networks. Such knowledge, however, possibly enables to delineate separate cognitive, perceptual, and motor processes that co-occur in the resting-state and is therefore important. In this study we use the resting-state MEG data-set provided by the Human Connectome Project to identify cortical alpha generators and to characterize their organization into functional networks. The large number of subjects (N = 94), multiple scans per subject, and state-of-the-art surface-based cortical registration enable a detailed characterization of alpha in human cortex. By applying non-negative matrix factorization to source-projected power fluctuations, we identify 16 reliable cortical generators in each hemisphere. These include the classical sensory alpha rhythms as well as several additional ones in the lateral occipital and temporal lobes and in inferior parietal cortex. We show that the generators are coordinated across hemispheres and hence form resting-state networks (RSNs), two of which are the default mode network (DMN) and the ventral attention network (VAN). Our study hence provides a further subdivision of RSNs within the alpha frequency band and shows that these RSNs are supported by alpha generators. As such, it links the classical literature on human alpha with more recent research into electrophysiological RNSs.

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Perceptual Grouping Reveals Distinct Roles for Sustained Slow Wave Activity and Alpha Oscillations in Working Memory

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01719 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Gisella K. Diaz ◽

Edward K. Vogel ◽

Edward Awh

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Frequency Band ◽

Slow Wave ◽

Perceptual Grouping ◽

Visual Display ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Neural Signals ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band

Abstract Multiple neural signals have been found to track the number of items stored in working memory (WM). These signals include oscillatory activity in the alpha band and slow-wave components in human EEG, both of which vary with storage loads and predict individual differences in WM capacity. However, recent evidence suggests that these two signals play distinct roles in spatial attention and item-based storage in WM. Here, we examine the hypothesis that sustained negative voltage deflections over parieto-occipital electrodes reflect the number of individuated items in WM, whereas oscillatory activity in the alpha frequency band (8–12 Hz) within the same electrodes tracks the attended positions in the visual display. We measured EEG activity while participants stored the orientation of visual elements that were either grouped by collinearity or not. This grouping manipulation altered the number of individuated items perceived while holding constant the number of locations occupied by visual stimuli. The negative slow wave tracked the number of items stored and was reduced in amplitude in the grouped condition. By contrast, oscillatory activity in the alpha frequency band tracked the number of positions occupied by the memoranda and was unaffected by perceptual grouping. Perceptual grouping, then, reduced the number of individuated representations stored in WM as reflected by the negative slow wave, whereas the location of each element was actively maintained as indicated by alpha power. These findings contribute to the emerging idea that distinct classes of EEG signals work in concert to successfully maintain on-line representations in WM.

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Personality correlates (BAS-BIS), self-perception of social ranking, and cortical (alpha frequency band) modulation in peer-group comparison

Physiology & Behavior ◽

10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.05.043 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 133 ◽

pp. 207-215 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Michela Balconi ◽

Silvia Pagani

Keyword(s):

Frequency Band ◽

Peer Group ◽

Group Comparison ◽

Social Ranking ◽

Self Perception ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

Personality Correlates

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Reduced Variability of Auditory Alpha Activity in Chronic Tinnitus

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2014/436146 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Winfried Schlee ◽

Martin Schecklmann ◽

Astrid Lehner ◽

Peter M. Kreuzer ◽

Veronika Vielsmeier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Frequency Band ◽

Resting State ◽

Spectral Power ◽

Alpha Activity ◽

Chronic Tinnitus ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

History Of ◽

The Moment

Subjective tinnitus is characterized by the conscious perception of a phantom sound which is usually more prominent under silence. Resting state recordings without any auditory stimulation demonstrated a decrease of cortical alpha activity in temporal areas of subjects with an ongoing tinnitus perception. This is often interpreted as an indicator for enhanced excitability of the auditory cortex in tinnitus. In this study we want to further investigate this effect by analysing the moment-to-moment variability of the alpha activity in temporal areas. Magnetoencephalographic resting state recordings of 21 tinnitus subjects and 21 healthy controls were analysed with respect to the mean and the variability of spectral power in the alpha frequency band over temporal areas. A significant decrease of auditory alpha activity was detected for the low alpha frequency band (8–10 Hz) but not for the upper alpha band (10–12 Hz). Furthermore, we found a significant decrease of alpha variability for the tinnitus group. This result was significant for the lower alpha frequency range and not significant for the upper alpha frequencies. Tinnitus subjects with a longer history of tinnitus showed less variability of their auditory alpha activity which might be an indicator for reduced adaptability of the auditory cortex in chronic tinnitus.

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The Role of Brain Oscillations in the Temporal Limits of Attention

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199675111.013.037 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kimron Shapiro ◽

Simon Hanslmayr

Keyword(s):

Frequency Band ◽

Visual Space ◽

Visual Input ◽

Brain Oscillations ◽

Approaches To Studying ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

Long Time ◽

The Brain

Attention is the ubiquitous construct referring to the ability of the brain to focus resources on a subset of perceptual input which it is trying to process for a response. Attention has for a long time been studied with reference to its distribution across space where, for example, visual input from an attentionally monitored location is given preference over non-monitored (i.e. attended) locations. More recently, attention has been studied for its ability to select targets from among rapidly, sequentially presented non-targets at a fixed location, e.g. in visual space. The present chapter explores this latter function of attention for its relevance to behaviour. In so doing, it highlights what is becoming one of the most popular approaches to studying communication across the brain—oscillations—at various frequency ranges. In particular the authors discuss the alpha frequency band (8–12 Hz), where recent evidence points to an important role in the switching between processing external vs. internal events.

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Interhemispheric connectivity during bimanual isometric force generation

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00876.2015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 115 (3) ◽

pp. 1196-1207 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Jinyi Long ◽

Toshiki Tazoe ◽

Demetris S. Soteropoulos ◽

Monica A. Perez

Keyword(s):

Frequency Band ◽

Isometric Force ◽

Silent Period ◽

Muscle Contractions ◽

Force Generation ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Inverse Relation ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Alpha Frequency Band ◽

Interhemispheric Connectivity

Interhemispheric interactions through the corpus callosum play an important role in the control of bimanual forces. However, the extent to which physiological connections between primary motor cortices are modulated during increasing levels of bimanual force generation in intact humans remains poorly understood. Here we studied coherence between electroencephalographic (EEG) signals and the ipsilateral cortical silent period (iSP), two well-known measures of interhemispheric connectivity between motor cortices, during unilateral and bilateral 10%, 40%, and 70% of maximal isometric voluntary contraction (MVC) into index finger abduction. We found that EEG-EEG coherence in the alpha frequency band decreased while the iSP area increased during bilateral compared with unilateral 40% and 70% but not 10% of MVC. Decreases in coherence in the alpha frequency band correlated with increases in the iSP area, and subjects who showed this inverse relation were able to maintain more steady bilateral muscle contractions. To further examine the relationship between the iSP and coherence we electrically stimulated the ulnar nerve at the wrist at the alpha frequency. Electrical stimulation increased coherence in the alpha frequency band and decreased the iSP area during bilateral 70% of MVC. Altogether, our findings demonstrate an inverse relation between alpha oscillations and the iSP during strong levels of bimanual force generation. We suggest that interactions between neural pathways mediating alpha oscillatory activity and transcallosal inhibition between motor cortices might contribute to the steadiness of strong bilateral isometric muscle contractions in intact humans.

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