From the beginning of clinical use of the EEG until now a close connection with oculomotor activity was assumed and empirically proven. After giving a sketch of the historical development, the issue is extended to the question of a connection between task-related alpha asymmetries and oculomotor activity. In doing so, the concepts of attention and cognition/emotion have to be dealt with. Referring to Kinsbourne, a conceptual framework is outlined which allows a mediation of the different methodical perspectives and thereby the formulation of testable hypotheses.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdrianE. D.MatthewsB. H. C. (1934) The Berger rhythm: Potential changes from the occipital lobes in man. Brain, 57, 355–385.
2.
AutretA.AuvertL.LaffontF.LarmandeP. (1985) Electroencephalographic spectral power and lateralized motor activities. EEG clin. Neurophysiol., 60, 228–236.
3.
BatesJ. A. V. (1951) Electrical activity of the cortex accompanying movement. J. Physiol., 113, 240–257.
4.
BenderM. B. (1969) The oculomotor system and the alpha rhythm. In EvansC. R.MulhollandT. B. (Eds.), Attention in neurophysiology. London: Butterworth. Pp. 304–309.
5.
DiamondsS. P. (1964) Input-output relations. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 112, 160–171.
6.
EarleJ. B. B. (1985) The effects of arithmetic task difficulty and performance level on EEG alpha asymmetry. Neuropsychologia, 23, 233–242.
7.
EhrlichmanH.WienerM. S. (1980) EEG asymmetry during covert mental activity. Psychophysiology, 17, 228–235.
8.
GaarderK.KoreskoR.KropflW. (1966) The phasic relation of a component of alpha rhythm to fixation saccadic eye movement. EEG clin. Neurophysiol., 21, 544–551.
9.
GaebelW.UlrichG. (1987) Visuomotor performance and alpha-power topography in the EEG: Syndrome relationships in schizophrenia. In Flor-HenryP.GruzelierH. J.TakahashiR. (Eds.), Cerebral dynamics, laterality and psychopathology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Pp. 161–172.
10.
GaebelW.UlrichG.FrickK. (1986) Eye-movement research with schizophrenic patients and normal controls using corneal reflection-pupil center measurement. Eur. Arch. Psychiat. Neurol. Sci., 235, 243–254.
11.
GaebelW.UlrichG.FrickK. (1987) Visuomotor performance of schizophrenic patients and normal controls in a picture viewing task. Biol. Psychiatry, 22, 1227–1237.
12.
GalenD.JohnstoneJ.HerronJ. (1978) Effects of task difficulty on EEG measures of cerebral engagement. Neuropsychologia, 16, 461–472.
13.
GevinsA. S.ZeitlinG. M.DoyleJ. C.YinglingC. D.SchafferR. E.CallawayE.YeagerC. L. (1979) Electroencephalogram correlates of higher cortical functions. Science, 203, 665–668.
14.
GlassA.ButlerS. R.CarterJ. C. (1984) Hemispheric asymmetry of EEG alpha activation: Effects of gender and familial handedness. Biol. Psychol., 19, 169–187.
15.
HendersonC. J.ButlerS. R.GlassA. (1975) The localisation of equivalent dipoles of EEG sources by the application of electrical field theory. EEG clin. Neurophysiol., 39, 117–130.
16.
KinsbourneM. (1973) The control of attention by interaction between the cerebral hemispheres. In KornblumS. (Ed.), Attention and performance IV. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 238–256.
17.
KinsbourneM. (1974) Direction of gaze and distribution of cerebral thought processes. Neuropsychologia, 12, 279–281.
18.
LippoldO. (1973) The origin of the alpha rhythm. London: Churchill-Livingstone.
19.
MulhollandT. B. (1969) The concept of attention and the electroencephalographic alpha rhythm. In EvansC. R.MulhollandT. B. (Eds.), Attention in neurophysiology. London: Butterworth. Pp. 100–127.
20.
MulhollandT. B.EvansC. R. (1965) An unexpected artifact in the human electroencephalogram concerning the alpha rhythm and the orientation of the eyes. Nature, 207, 36–37.
21.
NuñezP. L. (1981) Electric fields of the brain: The neurophysics of BEG. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford Univer. Press.
22.
UlrichG.GaebelW. (1987) Zur Psychophysiologie schizophrener Aufmerksamkeitsstörung—Konzepte, Befunde und Arbeitshypothesen. Fortschr. Neurol. Psychiat., 55, 273–278.
23.
WarrenL. R.HaueterE. S. (1981) Alpha asymmetry as a function of cognitive mode: The role of lateral eye movements. Int. J. Neuroscience, 13, 137–141.
