All talk? Challenging the use of left-temporal EEG alpha oscillations as valid measures of verbal processing and conscious motor control

Parr, Johnny V. V., Gallicchio, Germano, Harrison, Neil R., Johnen, Ann-Kathrin and Wood, Greg (2020) All talk? Challenging the use of left-temporal EEG alpha oscillations as valid measures of verbal processing and conscious motor control. Biological Psychology, 155. ISSN 0301-0511

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Abstract

This study tested the validity of EEG left-temporal alpha power and upper-alpha T7-Fz connectivity as indices of verbal activity and conscious motor control. Participants (n = 20) reached for, and transported, a jar under three conditions: a control condition and two self-talk conditions aimed at eliciting either task-unrelated verbal processing or task-related conscious control, while EEG and hand kinematics were recorded. Compared to the control condition, both self-talk conditions increased self-reported verbal processing, but only the task-related self-talk condition increased left-temporal activity (i.e., alpha power decreased). However, as cortical activity increased across the entire scalp topography, conscious control likely elicits a multitude of processes that may not be explained by left-temporal activity or verbal processing alone, but by a widespread decrease in neural efficiency. No significant effects for T7-Fz connectivity were detected. Results suggest that left-temporal EEG alpha oscillations are unlikely to uniquely reflect verbal processing during conscious motor control.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception
Related URLs:	https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2020 23:54
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 06:35
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/76410
DOI:	10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107943

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