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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Psychol. 2019 Jan 2;29:82–89. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.016

Figure 2. Theta mediates rhythmic top-down control.

Figure 2

(A) Behavioral data from a target detection experiment where a 2×2 design (predictive vs. non-predictive and 10 Hz flicker vs. arrhythmic stimulation) was employed. Single subject behavioral time courses for predictive and non-predictive conditions filtered in the alpha-band. Note the rhythmic theta modulation (arrows) of the alpha envelope (red) in the predictive (left) but not the non-predictive (right) condition. (B) Left: Spectral analysis of behavioral hit rate time courses reveal elevated alpha power for non-predictive contexts (dashed lines). Note that alpha power is higher when the preceding stream was flickered at 10 Hz (green dashed lines). This increase was interpreted as evidence for alpha entrainment through the 10 Hz flicker. However, top-down guided processing (solid lines) exhibited markedly reduced alpha power, which was not modulated by the entraining stream (right panel), thus, indicating that top-down control alleviates effects of bottom-up sensory entrainment. (C) Simultaneous EEG recordings revealed distinct sources reflecting perception (posterior alpha) and cognitive content (frontal low theta). The graphs in A-C are reproduced from [10].