Chess Players Increase the Theta Power Spectrum When the Difficulty of the Opponent Increases: An EEG Study

Juan Pedro Fuentes-García; Santos Villafaina; Daniel Collado-Mateo; Ricardo Cano-Plasencia; Narcis Gusi

doi:10.3390/ijerph17010046

Chess Players Increase the Theta Power Spectrum When the Difficulty of the Opponent Increases: An EEG Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17010046 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 46 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Juan Pedro Fuentes-García ◽

Santos Villafaina ◽

Daniel Collado-Mateo ◽

Ricardo Cano-Plasencia ◽

Narcis Gusi

Keyword(s):

Power Spectrum ◽

Divergent Thinking ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Difficulty Level ◽

P Value ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Theta Power ◽

Creative Ideation ◽

Chess Players ◽

Alternative Solutions

The present study aimed to analyze differences in the electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectrum (theta, alpha, and beta) between participants who won (winning group) and those who lost (losing group) in three different chess games: against their same Elo (100% chess games), 25% over their Elo (125% chess games), and 25% under their Elo (75% chess games). EEG was assessed at baseline and during the chess games. Method: 14 male chess players (age: 35.36 ± 13.77 and Elo: 1921 ± 170) played three games of 3 min, plus two additional seconds per move, while EEG was assessed. There were three difficulty levels (75%, 100%, and 125%), with two games (one with white pieces and another with black pieces) per level. The winning group showed higher theta power in the frontal, central, and posterior brain regions when difficulty increased (p-value < 0.05). Besides this, alpha power showed higher values (p-value < 0.05) in 125% games than in 75% chess games in C3, T3, T4, T5, and T6. The losing group showed a significant decrease (p-value < 0.05) in the beta and alpha power spectrum in frontal, central, parietotemporal, and occipital areas, when the opponent’s difficulty increased. Moreover, between groups, analyses showed higher theta power in the losing group than in the winning group, in C3, T5, T6, P4, and Pz (p-value < 0.05). Therefore, the winning group was able to adapt to each difficulty level, increasing theta power in the frontal, central, and posterior brain areas, as the efficiency hypothesis postulated. These changes were not observed in the losing group. Moreover, increases in alpha power during the most difficult games, in comparison with the easier, could have been caused by creative ideation and divergent thinking, as participants looked for alternative solutions against a higher-skilled opponent.

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Heart and Brain Responses to Real Versus Simulated Chess Games in Trained Chess Players: A Quantitative EEG and HRV Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16245021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (24) ◽

pp. 5021 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Juan Pedro Fuentes-García ◽

Telmo Pereira ◽

Maria António Castro ◽

António Carvalho Santos ◽

Santos Villafaina

Keyword(s):

Power Spectrum ◽

Quantitative Eeg ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

P Value ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Theta Power ◽

Simulated Environments ◽

Simulated Environment ◽

Chess Players ◽

Simulated Scenario

The aim of the present study was to investigate how the heart and the brain react to playing chess with a computer versus in a real context in chess players. We also aim to investigate if familiarization with simulated practice leads to changes in heart rate variability (HRV) and the electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectrum. We designed a cross-sectional study, enrolling 27 chess players. They were randomly assigned to 3 minutes plus 2-second chess games: one with a computer (simulated scenario), and another in a real context. Additionally, participants were divided into two groups according to their level of familiarization of playing chess in a computer context. While they were playing, HRV and EEG were continuously recorded. Differences in HRV and EEG theta power spectrum between playing chess in a real or a simulated scenario were not found in chess players (p-value > 0.05). When participants were divided into groups (familiarized and unfamiliarized with simulated chess practice), significant differences were observed in HRV and EEG (p-value < 0.05). The EEG theta power spectrum was significantly lower, and HRV was higher in unfamiliarized players during the simulated scenario, which could indicate that they were less focused in a simulated environment than in a real context. Therefore, familiarization with simulated environments should be taken into account during the training process to achieve the best performance.

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Signatures of Brain Network Alteration in Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures: A Rest-EEG Study Based on Power Spectral Density and Phase Lag Index

10.1101/2021.10.20.464353 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Giuseppe Varone ◽

Wadii Boulila ◽

Michele Lo Giudice ◽

Bilel Benjdira ◽

Nadia Mammone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Spectrum ◽

Epileptic Seizures ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Brain Network ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Phase Lag ◽

Distributed Information ◽

Main Challenge ◽

Large Populations

The main challenge in the clinical assessment of Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) is the lack of an electroencephalographic marker in the electroencephalography (EEG) readout. Although decades of EEG studies have focused on detecting cortical brain function underlying PNES, the principle of PNES remains poorly understood. To address this problem, electric potentials generated by large populations of neurons were collected during the resting state to be processed after that by Power Spectrum Density (PSD) for possible analysis of PNES signatures. Additionally, the integration of distributed information of regular and synchronized multi-scale communication within and across inter-regional brain areas has been observed using functional connectivity tools like Phase Lag Index (PLI) and graph-derived metrics. A cohort study of 20 PNES and 19 Healthy Control subjects (HC) were enrolled. The major finding is that PNES patients exhibited significant differences in alpha-power spectrum in brain regions related to cognitive operations, attention, working memory, and movement regulation. Noticeably, we observed that there exists an altered oscillatory activity and a widespread inter-regional phase desynchronization. This indicates changes in global efficiency, node betweenness, shortest path length, and small worldness in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. Finally, our findings look into new evidence of the intrinsic organization of functional brain networks that reflects a dysfunctional level of integration of local activity across brain regions, which can provide new insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of PNES.

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Spectral fingerprints or spectral tilt? Evidence for distinct oscillatory signatures of memory formation

10.1101/373514 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marie-Christin Fellner ◽

Stephanie Gollwitzer ◽

Stefan Rampp ◽

Gernot Kreiselmeyr ◽

Daniel Bush ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Spectrum ◽

High Frequency ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Memory Formation ◽

Memory Encoding ◽

Frequency Bands ◽

Theta Power ◽

Gamma Power ◽

Frequency Power

AbstractDecreases in low frequency power (2-30 Hz) alongside high frequency power increases (>40 Hz) have been demonstrated to predict successful memory formation. Parsimoniously this change in the frequency spectrum can be explained by one factor, a change in the tilt of the power spectrum (from steep to flat) indicating engaged brain regions. A competing view is that the change in the power spectrum contains several distinct brain oscillatory fingerprints, each serving different computations. Here, we contrast these two theories in a parallel MEG-intracranial EEG study where healthy participants and epilepsy patients, respectively, studied either familiar verbal material, or unfamiliar faces. We investigated whether modulations in specific frequency bands can be dissociated in time, space and by experimental manipulation. Both, MEG and iEEG data, show that decreases in alpha/beta power specifically predicted the encoding of words, but not faces, whereas increases in gamma power and decreases in theta power predicted memory formation irrespective of material. Critically, these different oscillatory signatures of memory encoding were evident in different brain regions. Moreover, high frequency gamma power increases occurred significantly earlier compared to low frequency theta power decreases. These results speak against a “spectral tilt” and demonstrate that brain oscillations in different frequency bands serve different functions for memory encoding.

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Analysis Of Cognitive Load For Bilingual Subjects

International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence ◽

10.4018/ijcini.2014010102 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 18-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Pravin Kumar Subbaraj ◽

Kavitha Anandan ◽

Geethanjali Balasubramanian ◽

Mahesh Veezhinathan

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Information Processing ◽

Cognitive Load ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Material Design ◽

Difficulty Level ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Theta Power ◽

Beta Power ◽

Lexile Level

Cognitive measures are directed to assess the load of working memory while performing different tasks. Excessive load on working memory hinders learning or performance of individuals. Lexile measure is the current tool used in assessing the difficulty levels of text reading in English language. Studies on correlating the cognitive load with EEG for classifying tasks based on Lexile measures have been performed for native English speakers. In this work, an attempt has been made to analyze the scope of Lexile measure for assessing the cognitive load of normal subjects. The protocol included reading and recall of texts with different Lexile complexities followed by resting phases. For increasing Lexile level complexities, a considerable increase in cognitive processing was noticed during task phase. Further, an increase in beta power was noticed at the central region indicating active information processing and decision making. Relative theta power (R?=0.11) was significant (p=0.022) in low Lexile level material and gradually decreased as the difficulty level of the tasks increased. Relative theta power was found to be decreasing as the complexity level of the text material increased and was found to dominate in both mid frontal and mid parietal regions during the recall phase. During test phase an increase in alpha power was observed at parietal region reflecting active information processing. This was evident from the highly significant (p=0.022), relative alpha power (Ra =0.036) for recall of high complexity Lexile material compared to medium (Ra=0.005) and low (Ra=0.005) level materials. Thus, it is seen that this study could be more effective in analyzing the cognitive load of subjects with different working memory efficiency. Also, while performing analysis on instructional material design based on cognitive load of different subjects, such procedures seem to be more significant.

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Conscious perception and perceptual echoes: a binocular rivalry study

Neuroscience of Consciousness ◽

10.1093/nc/niab007 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Canhuang Luo ◽

Rufin VanRullen ◽

Andrea Alamia

Keyword(s):

Binocular Rivalry ◽

Visual Information ◽

Visual Stimulation ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Travelling Wave ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Conscious Perception ◽

Impulse Response Functions ◽

Band Frequency ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract Alpha rhythms (∼10Hz) in the human brain are classically associated with idling activities, being predominantly observed during quiet restfulness with closed eyes. However, recent studies demonstrated that alpha (∼10Hz) rhythms can directly relate to visual stimulation, resulting in oscillations, which can last for as long as one second. This alpha reverberation, dubbed perceptual echoes (PE), suggests that the visual system actively samples and processes visual information within the alpha-band frequency. Although PE have been linked to various visual functions, their underlying mechanisms and functional role are not completely understood. In this study, we investigated the relationship between conscious perception and the generation and the amplitude of PE. Specifically, we displayed two coloured Gabor patches with different orientations on opposite sides of the screen, and using a set of dichoptic mirrors, we induced a binocular rivalry between the two stimuli. We asked participants to continuously report which one of two Gabor patches they consciously perceived, while recording their EEG signals. Importantly, the luminance of each patch fluctuated randomly over time, generating random sequences from which we estimated two impulse-response functions (IRFs) reflecting the PE generated by the perceived (dominant) and non-perceived (suppressed) stimulus, respectively. We found that the alpha power of the PE generated by the consciously perceived stimulus was comparable with that of the PE generated during monocular vision (control condition) and higher than the PE induced by the suppressed stimulus. Moreover, confirming previous findings, we found that all PEs propagated as a travelling wave from posterior to frontal brain regions, irrespective of conscious perception. All in all our results demonstrate a correlation between conscious perception and PE, suggesting that the synchronization of neural activity plays an important role in visual sampling and conscious perception.

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Modulation of hippocampal brain networks produces changes in episodic simulation and divergent thinking

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2003535117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (23) ◽

pp. 12729-12740 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Preston P. Thakral ◽

Kevin P. Madore ◽

Sarah E. Kalinowski ◽

Daniel L. Schacter

Keyword(s):

Divergent Thinking ◽

Brain Networks ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

Seed Region ◽

Core Network ◽

Control Task ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Target Region ◽

Episodic Simulation

Prior functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies indicate that a core network of brain regions, including the hippocampus, is jointly recruited during episodic memory, episodic simulation, and divergent creative thinking. Because fMRI data are correlational, it is unknown whether activity increases in the hippocampus, and the core network more broadly, play a causal role in episodic simulation and divergent thinking. Here we employed fMRI-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess whether temporary disruption of hippocampal brain networks impairs both episodic simulation and divergent thinking. For each of two TMS sessions, continuous θ-burst stimulation (cTBS) was applied to either a control site (vertex) or to a left angular gyrus target region. The target region was identified on the basis of a participant-specific resting-state functional connectivity analysis with a hippocampal seed region previously associated with memory, simulation, and divergent thinking. Following cTBS, participants underwent fMRI and performed a simulation, divergent thinking, and nonepisodic control task. cTBS to the target region reduced the number of episodic details produced for the simulation task and reduced idea production on divergent thinking. Performance in the control task did not statistically differ as a function of cTBS site. fMRI analyses revealed a selective and simultaneous reduction in hippocampal activity during episodic simulation and divergent thinking following cTBS to the angular gyrus versus vertex but not during the nonepisodic control task. Our findings provide evidence that hippocampal-targeted TMS can specifically modulate episodic simulation and divergent thinking, and suggest that the hippocampus is critical for these cognitive functions.

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Trimodal electroencephalogram during isoflurane anaesthesia

Journal of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care ◽

10.4103/2348-0548.182340 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 03 (02) ◽

pp. 133-136

Author(s):

Lorenzo Dimpel

Keyword(s):

Power Spectrum ◽

Characteristic Feature ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Depth Of Anaesthesia ◽

Isoflurane Anaesthesia ◽

Delta Power ◽

Anaesthetic Agents ◽

Deep Anaesthesia ◽

Anaesthesia Monitoring

AbstractThe effects of common anaesthetic agents, such as isoflurane or propofol, on the electroencephalogram are well-known. The most characteristic feature is the marked increase in delta power and alpha power resulting in a bimodal power spectrum from light to moderately deep anaesthesia. Here, a case is presented where the power spectrum became trimodal when anaesthesia was lightened towards wake up. The implications of a third mode for depth-of-anaesthesia monitoring are discussed. Its neuro-physiology is unknown, as it has never been reported before.

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Oscillatory Correlates of Retrieval-induced Forgetting in Recognition Memory

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21072 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (5) ◽

pp. 976-990 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Bernhard Spitzer ◽

Simon Hanslmayr ◽

Bertram Opitz ◽

Axel Mecklinger ◽

Karl-Heinz Bäuml

Keyword(s):

Retrieval Practice ◽

Time Window ◽

Phase Locking ◽

Memory Representation ◽

Late Time ◽

Alpha Power ◽

Theta Power ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Gamma Power ◽

Induced Forgetting

Retrieval practice on a subset of previously studied material enhances later memory for practiced material but can inhibit memory for related unpracticed material. The present study examines the effects of prior retrieval practice on evoked (ERPs) and induced (oscillatory power) measures of electrophysiological activity underlying recognition of practiced and unpracticed words. Compared to control material, recognition of unpracticed words was characterized by reduced amplitudes of the P2 ERP component and by reduced early (200–400 msec) oscillatory theta power. The reduction in P2 amplitude was associated with decreased evoked theta power but not with decreased theta phase locking (phase-locking index). Recognition of unpracticed material was further accompanied by a reduction in occipital gamma power (>250 msec). In contrast, the beneficial effects of retrieval practice on practiced words were reflected by larger parietal ERP positivity (>500 msec) and by a stronger decrease in oscillatory alpha power in a relatively late time window (>700 msec). The results suggest that the beneficial and detrimental effects of retrieval practice are mediated by different processes. In particular, they suggest that reduced theta (4–7 Hz) and gamma (60–90 Hz) power reflect the specific effects of inhibitory processes on the unpracticed material's memory representation.

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