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Entrainment of theta, not alpha, oscillations is predictive of the brightness enhancement of a flickering stimulus

Jennifer K. Bertrand, Nathan J. Wispinski, Kyle E. Mathewson, Craig S. Chapman
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/239061
Jennifer K. Bertrand
1Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation, University of Alberta
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  • For correspondence: jbertran@ualberta.ca
Nathan J. Wispinski
2Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta
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Kyle E. Mathewson
2Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta
3Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta
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Craig S. Chapman
1Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation, University of Alberta
3Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta
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Abstract

Frequency-dependent brightness enhancement, where a flickering light can appear twice as bright as an equiluminant constant light, has been reported to exist within the alpha (8 – 12 Hz) band. Could oscillatory neural activity be driving this perceptual effect? Here, in two experiments, human subjects reported which of two flickering stimuli were brighter. Strikingly, 4 Hz stimuli were reported as brighter more than 80% of the time when compared to all other tested frequencies, even though all stimuli were equiluminant and of equal temporal length. Electroencephalography recordings showed that inter-trial phase coherence (ITC) of theta (4 Hz) was: 1) Significantly greater than alpha, contralateral to the flickering stimulus; 2) Enhanced by the presence of a second ipsilateral 4 Hz flickering stimulus; and 3) Uniquely lateralized, unlike the alpha band. Importantly, on trials with two identical stimuli (i.e. 4 Hz vs 4 Hz), the brightness discrimination judgment could be predicted by the hemispheric balance in the amount of 4 Hz ITC. We speculate that the theta rhythm plays a distinct information transfer role, where its ability to share information between hemispheres via entrainment promotes a better processing of visual information to inform a discrimination decision.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted March 09, 2018.
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Entrainment of theta, not alpha, oscillations is predictive of the brightness enhancement of a flickering stimulus
Jennifer K. Bertrand, Nathan J. Wispinski, Kyle E. Mathewson, Craig S. Chapman
bioRxiv 239061; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/239061
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Entrainment of theta, not alpha, oscillations is predictive of the brightness enhancement of a flickering stimulus
Jennifer K. Bertrand, Nathan J. Wispinski, Kyle E. Mathewson, Craig S. Chapman
bioRxiv 239061; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/239061

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