Visualizing and Rhyming Cause Differences in Alpha Suppression
Abstract
Alpha rhythms of the EEG are strongest at the occipital regions of the head, and the visual cortex is apparently a major contributor. It has been suggested that visual cortex is involved in forming and processing mental images. The purpose of this experiment is to determine if a task that involves visualizing objects represented by words produces changes in alpha rhythms of the MEG that differ from changes associated with finding rhymes of the same or related verbal stimuli. By hypothesis, the visual areas of the cortex play a less prominent role in the latter task than they do in the visualizing task. This inference is consistent with the finding that visual imagery is accompanied by attenuation of the alpha rhythm over the occipital scalp, in the proximity of visual cortex cognitive factors, such as memorization and classification of words, affects the pattern of alpha blockage across the occipital and parietal area, but this does not establish that visual cortex per se is involved. Subjects responded by forming mental images of the objects represented by the words. The event related potentials associated with presentation of the words were larger in amplitude than they were when the subjects silently pronounced words that rhymed with the stimuli instead of forming mental images. This effect was more evident at occipital electrodes than it was at other locations. There may well be differential suppression of alpha activity depending on the degree to which visual resources are engaged in various mental tasks, such as imaging. Keywords: Brain; Brain function; Neurochemistry; Reprints.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 12, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA210005
Entities
People
- Lloyd Kaufman
- M. Glanzer
- S. J. Williamson
- Y. Cycowicz
Organizations
- New York University