On the basis of a systems theoretical approach it was hypothesized that event-related potentials (ERPs) are superpositions of stimulus-evoked and time-locked EEG rhythms reflecting resonance properties of the brain (Başar, 1980). This approach led to frequency analysis of ERPs as a way of analyzing evoked rhythms. The present article outlines the basic features of ERP frequency analysis in comp...

Rhythm is determined solely by the relationship between the time intervals of a series of events. Psychological studies have proposed two types of rhythm representation depending on the interval ratio of the rhythm: metrical and nonmetrical representation for rhythms formed with small integer ratios and noninteger ratios, respectively. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to test wheth...

Learning is a complex brain function operating on different time scales, from milliseconds to years, which induces enduring changes in brain dynamics. The brain also undergoes continuous "spontaneous" shifts in states, which, amongst others, are characterized by rhythmic activity of various frequencies. Besides the most obvious distinct modes of waking and sleep, wake-associated brain states co...

Timing cues are an essential feature of music. To understand how the brain gives rise to our experience of music we must appreciate how acoustical temporal patterns are integrated over the range of several seconds in order to extract global timing. In music perception, global timing comprises three distinct but often interacting percepts: temporal grouping, beat, and tempo. What directions may ...

Recording brain electrical activity using scalp electrodes provides a noninvasive, sensitive measure of brain function in humans. These neuroelectric phenomena may be recorded during the continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) when the subject is at rest, and not involved in a task, or one may record the time-specific event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during specific cognitive tasks. These te...

Serotonergic cells are located in a restricted number of brain stem nuclei, send projections to virtually all parts of the CNS, and are critical to normal brain function. They discharge tonically at a rate modulated by the sleep-wake cycle and, in the case of medullary serotonergic cells in raphe magnus and the adjacent reticular formation (RM), are excited by cold challenge. Yet, beyond behavi...

Within the core molecular clock, protein phosphorylation and degradation play a vital role in determining circadian period. The 'after-hours' (Afh) mutation in mouse slows the degradation of the core clock protein Cryptochrome, lengthening the period of the molecular clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and behavioural wheel-running rhythms. However, we do not yet know how the Afh mutation...