Brain activity patterns preserve traces of previous cognitive activity

June 26, 2013

Weizmann Institute scientists discover that spontaneously emerging brain activity patterns preserve traces of previous cognitive activity.

The day-after effect of brain activation: The brain image at the back presents spontaneous resting state patterns before an fMRI-based neurofeedback training session. The front brain image presents spontaneous resting state patterns a day after the training session, illustrating the long-term trace of the training. Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science

This research suggests a number of future possibilities for exploring the brain. For example, spontaneously emerging brain patterns could be used as a “mapping tool” for unearthing cognitive events from an individual’s recent past.

Or, on a wider scale, each person’s unique spontaneously emerging activity patterns might eventually reveal a sort of personal profile — highlighting each individual’s abilities, shortcomings, biases, learning skills, etc.

via Brain activity patterns preserve traces of previous cognitive activity | KurzweilAI.

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ScienceDirect.com – Brain Stimulation – Stimulation of the brain with radiofrequency electromagnetic field pulses affects sleep-dependent performance improvement

Abstract

Background

Sleep-dependent performance improvements seem to be closely related to sleep spindles (12–15 Hz) and sleep slow-wave activity (SWA, 0.75–4.5 Hz). Pulse-modulated radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF, carrier frequency 900 MHz) are capable to modulate these electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics of sleep.

Objective

The aim of our study was to explore possible mechanisms how RF EMF affect cortical activity during sleep and to test whether such effects on cortical activity during sleep interact with sleep-dependent performance changes.

Methods

Sixteen male subjects underwent 2 experimental nights, one of them with all-night 0.25–0.8 Hz pulsed RF EMF exposure. All-night EEG was recorded. To investigate RF EMF induced changes in overnight performance improvement, subjects were trained for both nights on a motor task in the evening and the morning.

Results

We obtained good sleep quality in all subjects under both conditions (mean sleep efficiency > 90%). After pulsed RF EMF we found increased SWA during exposure to pulse-modulated RF EMF compared to sham exposure (P < 0.05) toward the end of the sleep period. Spindle activity was not affected. Moreover, subjects showed an increased RF EMF burst-related response in the SWA range, indicated by an increase in event-related EEG spectral power and phase changes in the SWA range. Notably, during exposure, sleep-dependent performance improvement in the motor sequence task was reduced compared to the sham condition (−20.1%, P = 0.03).

Conclusion

The changes in the time course of SWA during the exposure night may reflect an interaction of RF EMF with the renormalization of cortical excitability during sleep, with a negative impact on sleep-dependent performance improvement

via ScienceDirect.com – Brain Stimulation – Stimulation of the brain with radiofrequency electromagnetic field pulses affects sleep-dependent performance improvement.

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Biometric Brainwaves, Your Unique Signature

European scientists are developing security systems that uniquely identify people through the pattern of electrical activity in their brain.

This latest and most unique entry into the field of biometrics was developed by researchers at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece. It makes use of the EEG (electroencephalograph) which measures the fluctations in brain activity through electrodes placed on the scalp. It is the voltage difference between different parts of the brain that produces the traces known as EEG, the so-called brainwaves.

Each person has a unique pattern of neural pathway which determines their brain activity. This makes the EEG biometric system hard to forge and therefore desirable for use in high security systems.

via Biometric Brainwaves, Your Unique Signature.

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