Combined assessment of attentional reserve and cognitive-motor effort under various levels of challenge with a dry EEG system.

A novel ERP approach was proposed to index variations in mental workload, particularly in attentional reserve, which is complementary to EEG spectral content thought to reflect mental effort. To our knowledge, no study has assessed mental effort and attentional reserve simultaneously in EEG gel-based and, importantly, dry systems, which are particularly well suited for real-world settings. Therefore, by systematically considering ERP, EEG spectral, and importantly the combination of both, this study examined if a small set of dry EEG electrodes could detect changes in both spectral and ERP metrics to assess the mental workload under various challenges with a similar fidelity to their gel-based counterparts in a laboratory setting.

Hemispheric differences over frontal theta-band power discriminate between stimulus- versus memory-driven saccadic eye movement.

Although several electrophysiological studies have demonstrated the role of theta band during the execution of different visuospatial attention tasks, this study is the first to directly investigate the role of theta power during the planning, execution and cognitive control of saccadic eye movements (SEMs). The current study aims at addressing this issue by investigating absolute theta power over the frontal cortex during the execution of random and fixed SEMs. Twelve healthy volunteers, performed two tasks involving different conditions in the planning, execution and cognitive control of SEMs while their brain activity pattern was recorded using quantitative electroencephalography.

Effects of Methylphenidate on performance of a practical pistol shooting task: a quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) study.

Background: The present study examined absolute alpha power using quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) in bilateral temporal and parietal cortices in novice soldiers under the influence of methylphenidate (MPH) during the preparatory aiming period in a practical pistol-shooting task. We anticipated higher bi-hemispheric cortical activation in the preparatory period relative to pre-shot baseline in the methylphenidate group when compared with the control group because methylphenidate has been shown to enhance task-related cognitive functions.

Methods: Twenty healthy, novice soldiers were equally distributed in control (CG; n = 10) and MPH groups 10 mg (MG; n = 10) using a randomized, double blind design.

Sensorimotor integration: basic concepts, abnormalities related to movement disorders and sensorimotor training-induced cortical reorganization.

Introduction: Sensorimotor integration is defined as the capability of the central nervous system to integrate different sources of stimuli, and parallelly, to transform such inputs in motor actions.

Aim: To review the basic principles of sensorimotor integration, such as, its neural bases and its elementary mechanisms involved in specific goal-directed tasks performed by healthy subjects, and the abnormalities reported in the most common movement disorders, such as, Parkinson' disease, dystonia and stroke, like the cortical reorganization-related mechanisms.

Development And Conclusions: Whether these disorders are associated with an abnormal peripheral sensory input or defective central processing is still unclear, but most of the data support a central mechanism.

γ-band oscillations in fronto-central areas during performance of a sensorimotor integration task: a qEEG coherence study.

This study aimed to elucidate electrophysiological and cortical mechanisms involved in anticipatory actions when 23 healthy right-handed subjects had to catch a free falling object by qEEG γ-band (30-100 Hz). It is involved in cognitive processes, memory, spatial/temporal and proprioceptive factors. Our hypothesis is that an increase in γ coherence in frontal areas will be observed during moment preceding ball drop, due to their involvement in attention, planning, selection of movements, preparation and voluntary control of action and in central areas during moment after ball drop, due to their involvement in motor preparation, perception and execution of movement.

Alpha absolute power: motor learning of practical pistol shooting.

The present study aimed at investigating changes in behavior (shooting precision) and electrophysiological variables (absolute alpha power) during the motor learning of practical pistol shooting. The sample was composed of 23 healthy subjects, right-handed, male, between 18 and 20 years of age. The task consisted of four learning blocks.