Monthly summary of general news, case histories,
and introductory articles about neurofeedback
for the interested layperson
Vol. 6 No. 3 - March 2003
Past issues are available at www.eegspectrum.com/news/
Copyright (C) 2001 by EEG Spectrum International. All rights reserved.
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All links at: http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=science&cat=brain_research
Two classic papers that need to be included in any discussion on neurofeedback
Thatcher (1999) and Othmer et al (1999) refers to chapters in Introduction to QEEG and Neurofeedback.
Midterm #1 Psy 547-01 Brainwaves & Behavior (Kaiser)4. In the 10-20 electrode placement system, the number "4" in the site label "C4" lets us know that this electrode is positioned somewhere over the: A. right hemisphere B. occipital lobe C. cerebral cortex D. fourth ventricle 6. Fourier analysis is performed on EEG data in order to: A. detect seizures B. decompose signals into constituents C. identify electrophysiological mechanisms D. amplify signals Questions about Sterman et al (1977): 9. Human sleep spindles attain their mature rhythm (speed) by what age? A. birth B. 3 months C. 1 year D. 9-10 years 10. The human sleep spindle is similar to what rhythm during wakefulness? A. alpha B. delta C. theta D. sensorimotor 16. The first person to record electrical activity from the brain of animals was A. Richard Caton B. Hans Berger C. Carl Wernicke D. Adrian Matthews 17. The "10-20" in the 10-20 International System of Electrode Placement refers to A. the number of electrodes attached to the scalp B. the percentage of total distance between specified skull locations C. the number of centimeters between electrode placements D. two montage types: one with 10 electrodes, one with 20 electrodes 18. Theta activity in a young child may reflect A. a normal variant of the dominant frequency B. drowsiness C. muscle tension D. all of the above E. both A & B 19. Referential (or monopolar) montages involve collecting information at an active electrode site and comparing this activity with a common reference electrode, such as the earlobes, which ______ be affected by cerebral activity. A. should B. should not (Though monopolar recordings are a fiction) 20. EEG recorded at the scalp is typically measured in A. millivolts B. milliamps C. microvolts D. ohms 21. Transients refer to A. an isolated form or feature that stands out from the background EEG B. a repeating feature that stands out from the background EEG C. transitional states of increasing or decreasing arousal D. changes between active and resting (baseline) states 22. Measures of phase provide estimates of ____ between related generators A. lag time B. synchrony C. desynchrony D. coherence 23. In conventional EEG (also called clinical EEG), one of the primary tasks an expert would perform is to characterize A. the general background activity B. the magnitude of slow wave activity C. the incidence of artifacts and other signal corruptions D. the reliability of the EEG record 24. Which measure involves unnecessary squaring of the raw value, an outdated technique left over from early neurological investigations and engineering applications? A. power B. magnitude C. amplitude D. coherence 25. The magnitude of alpha activity at F3 divided by the magnitude of all frequency bands at the same site provides an estimate of: A. relative magnitude B. relative power C. absolute magnitude D. ratio power 28. About 98% of the energy of the human EEG lies between A. 0-3.5 Hz B. 0-30 Hz C. 5-15 Hz D. 8-13 Hz 29. Of the three - amplitude, coherence, phase -- which is usually more variable and less stable? A. amplitude B. coherence C. phase 32. According to Thatcher (1999), there are at least three primary reasons to use a normative database for the purposes of neurotherapy. Which is not one of those reasons? A. to determine to what extent there is a neurological basis of the patient's complaint B. to optimize neurotherapic choices and treatment design C. to evaluate effectiveness of treatment D. to determine to what extent there is a psychological basis of the patient's complaint 34. EEG rhythmicity is believed to be caused by pacemaking cells in the A. cortex B. reticular thalamic nuclei C. thalamus D. activating reticular formation (In class I argued the Andersen-to-Steriade line of evidence about brain rhythmicity as opposed to Nunez's cortical arguments.) 35. Delta rhythms are thought to be generated solely in the A. cortex B. reticular thalamic nuclei C. thalamus D. activating reticular formation 38. For which condition is EEG not routinely applied or analyzed? A. head injury B. epilepsy C. sleep disorders D. schizophrenia 41. Which mathematically transformed estimation of spectral amplitude produces relatively normal distributions for thalamocortical activity (say, 5-15 Hz)? A. log magnitude B. magnitude C. power 43. Cosine tapering functions are applied in Fourier analysis to reduce edge effects caused by segmenting data into epochs. Their use initially introduced what new form of artifact to QEEG analysis? A. leakage B. smearing C. sampling D. ocular 44. When a child's dominant frequency in a normal resting condition is replaced by faster, lower amplitude waveforms, we call this process: A. synchronization B. alpha blocking C. theta augmentation D. alpha synchrony 45. Non-specific arousal involves a _______ change in spectral amplitudes. A. localized B. spatial C. widespread D. unspecified 47. A baseline condition generally requires the following from a subject: A. eyes shut B. eyes being open C. no active mental processing D. task performance 48. Which electrode site is positioned above the left medial frontal lobe A. Fp1 B. F7 C. F3 D. F4 E. F8 49. Which electrodes are a homologous pairing? A. Fz-F3 B. T5-T6 C. T3-C3 D. Fp1-O1 E. Fp1-F4 Correct Answers for Midterm #1 4--A 6--B 9--B 10--D 16--A 17--B 18--E 19--B 20--C 21--A 22--A 23--A 24--A 25--A 28--B 29--C 32--D 34--B 35--A 38--D 41--A 43--C 44--B 45--C 47--C 48--C 49--B
Midterm #2 Psy 547 Brainwaves & Behavior (Kaiser)5. Three-quarters of all cats trained by Sterman to produce sensorimotor rhythms: A. were completely protected from chemically induced seizures B. were completely vulnerable to chemically induced seizures C. were unable to do so. D. were resistant but did eventually produce seizures 6. Post-reinforcement synchronization reflects activity in which frequency band: A. alpha B. beta C. theta D. gamma Questions for Clemente et al (1964) 7. When a cat's milk was diluted with water, the incidence of PRS A. increased B. decreased C. remained unchanged 8. In response to water dispensations, Cat #62 exhibited no PRS whereas Cat #60 showed PRS half the time. We can conclude that: A. Cat 62 was water deprived B. Cat 60 was water deprived C. Cat 60 was not water deprived D. both A & C 9. Marked reduction in PRS was associated with which behavior in Sterman's cats: A. sleep B. disinterest C. arousal D. feeding 10. During a visual task, which two sites are most likely to exhibit the highest degree of coherence: A. P3 and O1 B. O1 and O2 C. P3 and O2 D. P3 and C3 11. According to the Nyquist Sampling Theorem, sampling once per cycle may produce A. the appearance of a constant signal B. the minimum sampling rate C. aliasing D. accurate frequency identification E. both B and D 12. In most human recordings, the insulating layers (skull, dura, scalp) make recording SMR difficult due to the: A. reduction of amplitudes B. speeding of frequencies C. slowing of frequencies D. both A and C 13. The inion is located A. near the nose B. near the ears C. near the back of the head D. below the neck 14. According to Othmer et al (1999), training frequencies between 2-12 Hz is for: A. psychological reintegration B. neurophysiological normalization C. dysrhythmias 15. Davidson's research has found that negative moods or withdrawal behaviors are associated with activation of the: A. left frontal medial area B. left frontal lateral area C. right frontal medial area D. right frontal lateral area 16. According to Othmer et al (1999), SMR neurofeedback training works because it A. produces arousal states otherwise unreachable by a patient B. challenges regulatory systems to respond to arousal changes C. reintegrates psychological trauma with normal cognition D. teaches patient to pay attention 17. The crossover state in alpha-theta training refer to: A. when theta activity becomes dominant in the signal B. when the patient experiences "rebirth" experiences C. when the patient crosses over to a new persona D. when the patient can re-experience past traumas 18. The dominant frequency rhythm in early childhood (2-7 years of age) is A. theta B. alpha C. beta D. delta 20. Alpha-theta training may work because of the state-dependent learning model which argues that an individual is A. returned to the dominant frequency of childhood B. able to experience past traumas in a detached mode C. better able to bond to a therapist during sessions D. able to focus on inner states, which is unusual for them 21. Prior to attaching electrodes, a site is prepped with an abrasive gel to remove any dead skin so as to: A. reduce amplitudes B. reduce impedence C. increase impedence D. increase wavelengths 23. Muscle and other forms of artifact are often handled in real-time during neurofeedback by A. inhibiting activity in high frequencies B. inhibiting activity in low frequencies C. inhibiting high amplitudes in the raw signal D. all of the above E. both A & C Correct answers for Midterm #2 5--D 6--A 7--B 8--B 9--B 10--B 11--A 12--A 13--C 14--A 15--C 16--B 17--A 18--A 20--A 21--B 23--E
FINAL Psy 547 Brainwaves (Kaiser)12. Endogenous components of an ERP occur at what time frame? A. 0 to 100 ms B. 100 to 500 ms C. 500 ms or longer D. both A & B E. both B & C 13. Endogenous event-related potentials depend largely on A. behavioral and psychological processes related to the event B. physical parameters of the stimulus C. behavioral and psychological processes unrelated to the event D. metabolism 14. In brain-computer interfaces, which signal is not controlled through training (i.e., it is an intrinsic signal used for BCIs): A. p300 B. mu rhythm (or SMR rhythm) C. slow cortical potentials D. action potentials 15. In brain-computer interfaces, habituation is often a problem with A. instrinic signals B. self-regulated signals C. extrinsic signals 17. Using current technology, most brain-computer interfaces typically allow locked-in patients to communicate at a rate of about: A. 5 words an hour B. 1 word a minute C. 1 word a second D. 5 phonemes a second 18. In current brain-computer interfaces, a locked-in patient mentally writes a letter to a friend or mentally rotates a complex block figure to generate a code (e.g., the letter "B"). The computer is examining what element the most for this code generation. In other words, each task produces preferential activation of specific _______. A. electrode sites. B. frequency bands. C. phase-coherence relationships. D. event-related potentials. 19. In the ______ paradigm, a subject faces an environment where a certain stimulus is repeated in monotonous fashion. Once in a while a standard stimulus is replaced by a deviant one. For example, the standard stimulus could be a tone of 1000 Hz in frequency and the deviant stimulus a tone of 1500 Hz in frequency. A. oddball B. event-related C. desynchronization D. arousal 23. In the event-related desynchronization paradigm, maximum deactivation occurs around _____ ms after stimulus presentation A. 100 B. 500 C. 1250 D. 2500 30. Mean spectral activity captures steady state (macrostate) activity in EEG. To capture general dynamics of an EEG (microstate), one might analyze: A. standard deviation B. slope C. median D. all of the above E. both A & B Correct Answers for Final 12--E 13--A 14--A 15--A 17--B 18--A 19--A 23--C 30--E
-DK
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High versus low structure counseling for substance abuse.
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High-structure, behaviorally-oriented counseling benefits only the more depressed addicts (not the majority of them) compared to low-structure, facilitative individual counseling.
Obsessive-compulsive behaviors in parents of multiplex autism families.
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Children with many repetitive behaviors were likely to have parents with obsessive-compulsive traits.
Raven's Progressive Matrices Performance in Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury.
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Raven's Progressive Matrices performance is neither more nor less sensitive than Wechsler IQ to the consequences of TBI in the adult.
Neurobiology of autism: new pieces of the puzzle.
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Abnormalities in cortical minicolumnar structure may underlie autism and result in altered thalamocortical connections, cortical disinhibition, and dysfunctional arousal-modulation.
Rapid relapse generally follows treatment for substance use disorders among adolescents.
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Social pressure, withdrawal, and negative affect often produce rapid release (< 6 months).
Effects of stimulant medications on EEG of children with ADHD Inattentive type.
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Stimulant medications appear to act to increase cortical arousal in children with ADHD, normalizing their EEG.
Risk factors and outcome of mood disorders in epilepsy
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Educated patients who develop epilepsy at a later age and patients with poorly controlled epilepsy are more likely to experience mood disorders.
Patterns of Processing Bias for Emotional Information Across Clinical Disorders
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Anxious patients exhibit a greater selective attentional bias for threat relative to depressogenic material.
Personality Disorders among Poly-Substance Abusers
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Poly-substance abusers exhibit more antisocial, passive- aggressive, and borderline personality disorders; pure alcoholics show more dependent personality disorders.
EEG activity in girls with ADHD.
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Girls with ADHD exhibit abnormalities in their EEGs, with far less variance in their EEG profiles than boys. There may be distinct groups of girls with ADHD who are not being referred for clinical treatment.
Neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder
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An interaction between organizational strategy deficits and the effort to recall unstructured information contributes to doubting, an important feature of OCD.