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Relations between PET-derived measures of thalamic glucose metabolism and EEG alpha power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2001

CHRISTINE L. LARSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
RICHARD J. DAVIDSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
HEATHER C. ABERCROMBIE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
ROBERT T. WARD
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
STACEY M. SCHAEFER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
DAREN C. JACKSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
JAMES E. HOLDEN
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
SCOTT B. PERLMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
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Abstract

Electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha power has been demonstrated to be inversely related to mental activity and has subsequently been used as an indirect measure of brain activation. The thalamus has been proposed as an important site for modulation of rhythmic alpha activity. Studies in animals have suggested that cortical alpha rhythms are correlated with alpha rhythms in the thalamus. However, little empirical evidence exists for this relation in humans. In the current study, resting EEG and a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan were measured during the same experimental session. Over a 30-min period, average EEG alpha power across 28 electrodes from 27 participants was robustly inversely correlated with glucose metabolic activity in the thalamus. These data provide the first evidence for a relation between alpha EEG power and thalamic activity in humans.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1998 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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