The Association of EEG Parameters Observed in Task Performance with Dominance of Motivation of Goal Attainment

Students (N = 70) were tested for motivation in choosing a profession, namely, for dominance of the subjective value or the attainability of the profession. Dominance of the subjective value showed negative correlations with EEG amplitude characteristics in the low-frequency band and positive correlations in the high-frequency band and, on this evidence, was considered to be associated with processes of brain activation. It was concluded that the motivational factor of the value of a profession is mostly influenced by individual features of temperament, which manifest themselves, in particular, in the general ergicity. The factor of attainability is negatively affected by certain features of the nervous system, especially by the general ergicity.     

Electrophysiological study of the choice motivation in man

In 70 Ss EEG coherence, amplitude and frequency characteristics as well as formal-dynamic (temperamental) properties were compared with the two dimensions of motivation involved in the choice of profession--its subjective "value" and the probability of its achievement ("accessability"). It was shown that the persons orienting themselves to the subjective value of the future profession tend to possess those features of temperament that testify to the stronger, more mobile and more labile nervous system as distinct from the subjects orienting themselves to the higher level of accessability. It was also shown that the persons with a higher level of the subjective value had a much higher level of EEG cortical activation in both hemispheres of the brain. The subjects with higher magnitudes of "accessability" were characterized by a lower level of brain activation.     

Human temperament and choice preference between probability of the goal achievement and the goal value

The purpose of this work was to experimentally ascertain the relationships between human formal-dynamic properties (temperament) and characteristics of his/her motivation sphere associated with the choice of a profession. Thirty eight students of a sports institute (aged 19-28) took part in the study. The formal-dynamic properties were assessed with the help of Rusalov's Questionnaire. The motivation of the choice of profession was assessed with the help of the specially developed test questionnaire. Two main components of choice motivation were identified: the value of the profession and probability of mastering this profession. It was found that persons of sanguine temperament (with a higher capacity for work, mobile and quick) are oriented primarily to the value of profession, while persons of melancholic temperament to the probability of mastering this profession.     

Characteristics of the psychophysiological development of adolescents and adaptation to education at the gymnasium

Experimental data on the characteristics of psychophysiological development and adaptation of adolescents are presented. The effect of specialized curricula on the characteristics of psychophysiological development and adaptation of high school students to education in a gymnasium is discussed.     

Parameters of psychophysiological adaptation to the academic process at a faculty of physical training in students specializing in different sports

The features of psychophysiological adaptation to learning at a physical training institute were studied in students of the faculty of physical training who specialized in different sports. The character of adaptive reorganizations in students involved in cyclic sports reflected the correspondence of the type of functional constitution to the sport specialization. Adaptation to the academic process in students involved in acyclic sports or sport games was accompanied by autonomic regulation strain, which was attributed to the inadequacy of physical loads to the state of the body. The adaptive capabilities of the students of the faculty of physical training were shown to depend not only on the specific character of the academic process at the faculty but also on the correspondence of the individual typological features to the chosen specialization.Translated from Fiziologiya Cheloveka, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2005, pp. 77–81.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Kazin, Varich.     

Effect of sociobiological factors on the formation of adaptive responses in school students during puberty

Analysis of psychological, social, and psychophysiological mechanisms underlying the formation of adaptive responses during puberty demonstrated a significant dependence of adolescent behavioral, autonomic, and endocrine parameters on sociobiological factors that determine the identification and individualization of genetically determined behavioral programs. Comparison of the adaptive capabilities of students from an innovative educational institution and from a vocational school showed that the levels of completeness of their adaptation were different and depended on social support, typological features, and autonomic regulation.     

Neurophysiological and Psychophysiological Effects of Sulpiride in the Norm and in Patients with Opiate Addiction

We studied characteristics of the EEG activity and psychophysiological indices in healthy persons and patients with opiate addiction (in the states of abstinence and remission) before and after peroral introduction of 200 mg sulpiride. In the initial state, spectral characteristics of EEG in patients with opiate addiction differed from those in the control (in healthy tested subjects) by higher relative powers of low- and high-frequency components (delta and beta waves) and a considerable depression of the alpha rhythm. Treatment with sulpiride evoked changes in the spectral characteristics of EEG, which showed a significant intergroup specificity; intensification of alpha oscillations was a general effect in all groups. We conclude that the effects of sulpiride on the EEG activity comprised components typical of both neuroleptics and antidepressants; in the group of patients in the abstinence state, the pattern of effects of sulpiride was close in its profile to the effect of anxiolytics. Dynamics of the indices of psychophysiological testing after sulpiride treatment demonstrated that the drug exerts mostly positive regulating effects on the state of higher nervous functions in patients with opiate addiction.     

Intensity and type of EEG reactions to a hyperventilation test and their relationship with changes in patients’ subjective state of health and some characteristics of the initial EEG pattern

Some EEG characteristics at rest and after a 3-min hyperventilation test (HVT) were studied in 100 adult patients along with the changes in their current subjective state of health, assessed with the help of a special three-stage survey and a questionnaire. Our findings demonstrated a clear correlation between the rate of changes in the current subjective state of health of a patient, the average number of observed symptoms, and the intensity of the EEG reaction. With regard to the methodological aspect, we recorded a difference in the assessment of subjective data obtained through the different types of survey. The frequency of two types of high-amplitude slow waves during the HVT (recorded in 21% of patients), as well as of paroxysmal epileptiform activity, was studied, and their correlation with the clinical manifestations of epilepsy was analyzed. Our study showed that the intensity of the general EEG reaction to the HVT is correlated with the presence of EEG disorders, such as minor bursts in the initial EEG pattern; the probability of high-amplitude slow activity during the HVT is especially high if these minor bursts are recorded at rest. We also noted a certain relationship between the intensity of hyperventilation-related EEG changes (and, therefore, the rate of changes in the current subjective state of health of a patient) and characteristics of the initial pattern, such as α-rhythm disorders and an increase in the intensity of slow or slow and frequent activity at rest.     

Psychophysiological Study of the Information Theory of Emotions Using the Model of Positive Emotion

The pattern of interhemisphere distribution of EEG amplitude and frequency as a function of the levels of emotional experience and motivation as well as probability of the goal achievement was studied in 20 probands. An emotional state was evoked by simulating emotionally colored events. A modified test of Priseet al.(1985) was used to evaluate the level of motivation for the simulated event as well as the probability of goal achievement from the lengths of line segments marked by the probands. Here, we studied a simulated emotion of joy. The highest correlation coefficients were observed between the awareness and alpha activity in the both hemispheres. The levels of emotional experience and motivation inversely correlated with the delta and theta activity mostly in the left hemisphere. The beta activity correlated with both the emotional and motivation levels     

Typology of the nervous system and personality

The paper deals with structural organization of psycho-physiological and psychological characteristics of personality. The following characteristics were estimated: psychomotor, intellectual, creative abilities, features of imagination as well as basic properties of personality: extraversion--introversion, and neuroticism. Using the Q-technique of factor analysis of the 1-st, 2-nd and 3rd orders, the authors singled out three types of psychophysiological and psychological human organization. Each type was given a generalized interpretation. Conclusion is made that these types reflect more generalized processes than factors derived with R-technique of factor analysis.     

Neurobiological and psychophysiological correlates of emotional dysregulation in ADHD patients

Emotional dysregulation in ADHD patients has become an important issue in recent years. Dysfunctions especially in brain regions related to emotional processing as well as psychophysiological reactions have been reported. This review includes functional MRI, event-related potentials as well as emotion-modulated startle studies in ADHD patients. It reflects a selective review of the authors with no claim of completeness. Changes in the processing of positive stimuli, with reduced brain activity in the amygdala, in the ventral striatum and reduced EEG potentials were found. The relevance of the observed dysregulation in emotional processing and psychophysiological reactions with regard to theoretical constructs of ADHD-specific emotional dysregulation versus comorbidity will be discussed.     

Effects of polymodal rhythmic sensory influences on the human CNS state and autonomic functions

It was shown that polymodal rhythmic sensory influences (light, sound, vibratory-tactile), being a measure of neurocorrection, may be used for correction of the human psychophysiological state. The effectiveness of the method shows up in the positive influence on the mental sphere of a person, causing a decrease in the level of anxiety and improving the subjective well-being, and on the cognitive and autonomic functions. Polymodal rhythmic sensory influences are means of increasing the effectiveness of human intellectual activity, because it increases concentration in proportion to the increase in the parasympathetic activity induced by polymodal sensory stimuli.     

Effect of Psychophysiological Potential on Adaptation to Educational Activity

The significance of specific and nonspecific psychophysiological mechanisms that determine adaptation processes in students during the process of learning (1–3 years) was examined. The activity of the autonomic cardiorhythm vegetative regulating system, lateral brain organization, cognitive and psychoemotional sphere and personality at rest, during a moderate mental load, and before and after examinations were determined. The specificity of psychoautonomic mechanisms of educational activity in students of various grades was found.     

Biological Principles of Individual Differences in the Temperament of Children in the Second Half of the First Year of Life. Communication III: Psychophysiological Principles of Excitability and Activity

Correlations between individual differences in EEG characteristics of attention control systems and temperamental traits of children at the age of 11 months were studied. A sample of 88 healthy mono- and dizygotic twins at the ages of 10 to 11.5 months was examined. The EEG was recorded in the state of sustained attention to visual stimulus. Temperamental features were estimated by the Balleyguier's Questionnaire. Dependence of the scores on each of the basic temperamental traits (excitability, activity, and sociability) on the amplitudes of spectral frequency bands in 12 EEG leads was determined. To this end, the standard and stepwise linear regression techniques and multivariate discriminant analysis with training and test samples were applied. The intrapair correlations in mono- and dizygotic twins were compared in order to analyze the nature of individual differences in spectral characteristics of the EEG range. The main results are as follows. In 11-year-old children in the state of attention, the interindividual variability of spectral amplitudes in the band of the EEG recorded from the main cortical areas is caused, predominantly, by genetic factors. The extent of excitability inversely depends on the level of synchronization in the basic range (6.8–7.6 Hz), which includes both the rhythm in the retrosplenial cortical leads and the rhythms in the anterocentral cortical areas during sustained attention. The degree of passiveness is directly correlated with the level of synchronization in the higher subrange (8.4–8.8 Hz) of the rhythm in the anterocentral cortical areas during visual attention. It is suggested that certain individual differences in the temperament of one-year-old children are genetically determined by specific features of the inhibitory control over the functional state of the brain cortex.     

Correlation between the rate of ethanol elimination and the psychophysiological characteristics of rats

Ethanol elimination from the blood of rats with different psychophysiological features was studied using gas chromatographic head-space analysis in the general complex of tests aimed at determination of ethanol consumption. The selection of animals with different levels of the initial alcohol motivation was performed according to modified Porsolt's method. It was shown that the initial level of predisposition to depression-like states is in a dose-dependent correlation with the high rate of ethanol elimination. This is suggested to be one of the genetic indications which promotes the formation of the initial alcohol motivation and the development of experimental alcoholism.     

Under pressure: response urgency modulates striatal and insula activity during decision-making under risk

When deciding whether to bet in situations that involve potential monetary loss or gain (mixed gambles), a subjective sense of pressure can influence the evaluation of the expected utility associated with each choice option. Here, we explored how gambling decisions, their psychophysiological and neural counterparts are modulated by an induced sense of urgency to respond. Urgency influenced decision times and evoked heart rate responses, interacting with the expected value of each gamble. Using functional MRI, we observed that this interaction was associated with changes in the activity of the striatum, a critical region for both reward and choice selection, and within the insula, a region implicated as the substrate of affective feelings arising from interoceptive signals which influence motivational behavior. Our findings bridge current psychophysiological and neurobiological models of value representation and action-programming, identifying the striatum and insular cortex as the key substrates of decision-making under risk and urgency.     

Interrelations between Peculiarities of the Motivational Sphere of a Personality and Characteristics of the Current EEG

In a group of 70 adult subjects of both sexes, we estimated the levels of the need for achievement and its motivation (interpreted as generalized characteristics of the state of the motivational sphere of a personality and diagnosed using questionnaires of Orlov and Mehrabian) and examined the correlations of these estimates with spectral powers (SPs) of the frequency components (rhythms) of the current background EEG (С3 and С4 leads according to the 10–20 system). Despite the fact that naturally high interindividual variability exists, high estimates of the need for achievement correlated with medium values of the SPs of most EEG frequency components (δ, θ, α, and β₁ rhythms), low SPs of the β₂ and γ rhythms, and higher values of the coefficient of reactivity (CR) of the α rhythm. A high level of the need for achievement corresponded to higher SPs of the θ and γ rhythms and high CR of the α rhythm, a medium SP of this EEG component, and lower SPs of the δ and β rhythms. The coefficient of interhemisphere asymmetry of the α rhythm was the highest at low values of the studied psychological indices. Interrelations that we found in our study can be explained as follows: both the characteristics of the need for achievement and motivation typical of a certain personality and the amplitude parameters of the EEG rhythms observed in this individual depend significantly on genetically determined factors (in particular, on neurochemical ones). These peculiarities of neurodynamic constitution of the individual are, to a considerable extent, due to the specificity of organization and functioning of a few neurotransmitter (aminergic, in particular) and neurohumoral systems. Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 61–69, January–February, 2009.     

Significance of motivation balance for a choice of dog's behavior under conditions of environmental uncertainty

Two experimental models with a choice between two reinforcements were used for assessment of individual typological features of dogs. In the first model dogs were given the choice of homogeneous food reinforcements: between less valuable constantly delivered reinforcement and more valuable reinforcement but delivered with low probabilities. In the second model the dogs had the choice of heterogeneous reinforcements: between performing alimentary and defensive reactions. Under conditions of rise of uncertainty owing to a decrease in probability of getting the valuable food, two dogs continued to prefer the valuable reinforcement, while the third animal gradually shifted its behavior from the choice of a highly valuable but infrequent reward to a less valuable but easily achieved reinforcement. Under condition of choice between the valuable food reinforcement and avoidance of electrocutaneous stimulation, the first two dogs preferred food, whereas the third animal which had been previously oriented to the choice of the low-valuable constant reinforcement, steadily preferred the avoidance behavior. The data obtained are consistent with the hypothesis according to which the individual typological characteristics of animals's (human's) behavior substantially depend on two parameters: extent of environmental uncertainty and subjective features of reinforcement assessment.     

Some indices of the activity of the brain in "rapid" sleep preceeded or not preceeded by delta-sleep]

In order to study the functional interaction between the delta sleep and the REM sleep some psychophysiological features of REM sleep were examined in REM-onset (without any preceding delta sleep--"early REM period") and in the REM period (REMP) terminating the normal sleep cycle (with the preceding delta sleep) of 92 daytime sleep attacks in 10 narcoleptic patients. Under these conditions the significant differences exist in the characteristics of the dream reports and in subjective estimations of sleep quality and duration. Sleep was evaluated as "superficial" and underestimations of sleep duration took place after an early REMP. Correct estimations of sleep duration and evaluations of sleep as "deep" dominated after REMP enging sleep cycles. The results obtained indicate the functional interaction between the delta sleep and REM sleep existing in the sleep cycle and largely determining the psychic content of the brain activity in the REM sleep.     

Individual typological differences in human behavior under conditions of reward choice assoicated with risk

A choice between probability (100, 75, 50, 25, 10, 0%) and valuable reward were investigated in adult. In behavioral experiments, adult subjects put in a situation of a choice between greater, but risky prize and smaller, but received always, made the decision according to situational factors and specific features of character such as propensity to risk and care. In a situation of choice of behavioral strategy, subjects could be divided in "inclined to risk" and "careful". Tipologycal differences between groups were the greatest under conditions of 25% probability of getting a valuable reward. Probability prognosis was more efficient in persons "tended to risk", than in "careful" subjects. According to psychological tests, "impulsive" people appeared to be more inclined to risk than to cautiousness. For the group of persons that tended to cautiousness under conditions of 25% probability of getting a valuable reward, synchronism of EEG rhythms in the alpha and beta bands was revealed.