Flicker Regularity Is Crucial for Entrainment of Alpha Oscillations

Flicker Regularity Is Crucial for Entrainment of Alpha Oscillations

Previous studies have shown that alpha oscillations (8-13 Hz) in human electroencephalogram (EEG) modulate perception via phase-dependent inhibition. If entrained to an external driving force, inhibition maxima and minima of the oscillation appear more distinct in time and make potential phase-dependent perception predictable. There is an ongoing debate about whether visual stimulation is suita...

Entrainment of Human Alpha Oscillations Selectively Enhances Visual Conjunction Search

The functional role of the alpha-rhythm which dominates the human electroencephalogram (EEG) is unclear. It has been related to visual processing, attentional selection and object coherence, respectively. Here we tested the interaction of alpha oscillations of the human brain with visual search tasks that differed in their attentional demands (pre-attentive vs. attentive) and also in the necess...

Alpha entrainment is responsible for the attentional blink phenomenon

The attentional blink phenomenon is the reduced ability to report a second target (T2) after identifying a first target (T1) in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of stimuli (e.g., letters), which are presented at approximately 10 items per second. Several explanations have been proposed, which focus primarily on cognitive aspects, such as attentional filter-, capacity limitation- and re...

Alpha Rhythms Response to 10 Hz Flicker Is Wavelength Dependent

Since Adrian and Metthew [1], light may be considered the dominant stimulus for the brain. This statement is confirmed after the discovery of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that regulates the master biological clock [2]. In 1998 the discovery of photopigment melanopsin in the ganglion cells of the retina, give new insight in the importance of the light in the pathophysiology of the brain [3]...

Local Entrainment of Alpha Oscillations by Visual Stimuli Causes Cyclic Modulation of Perception