Open AccessPrestimulus alpha and mu activity predicts failure to inhibit motor responses
Author(s) -
Mazaheri Ali,
Nieuwenhuis Ingrid L.C.,
van Dijk Hanneke,
Jensen Ole
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.20763
Subject(s) - psychology , brain activity and meditation , alpha (finance) , hum , neuroscience , stimulus (psychology) , electroencephalography , alpha rhythm , resting state fmri , beta (programming language) , audiology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , medicine , construct validity , psychometrics , art , performance art , computer science , programming language , art history
Do certain brain states predispose humans to commit errors in monotonous tasks? We used MEG to investigate how oscillatory brain activity indexes the brain state in subjects performing a Go‐noGo task. Elevated occipital alpha and sensorimotor mu activity just prior to the presentation of the stimuli predicted an upcoming error. An error resulted in increased frontal theta activity and decreased posterior alpha activity. This theta increase and alpha decrease correlated on a trial‐by‐trial basis reflecting post‐error functional connectivity between the frontal and occipital regions. By examining the state of the brain before a stimulus, we were able to show that it is possible to predict lapses of attention before they actually occur. This supports the case that the state of the brain is important for how incoming stimuli are processed and for how subjects respond. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.