ReviewFrontiers in computational neuroscience2018
On the Physiological Modulation and Potential Mechanisms Underlying Parieto-Occipital Alpha Oscillations.
Review in Frontiers in computational neuroscience, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Resting-state EEG power differences in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Identification of an optimal dose of intravenous ketamine for late-life treatment-resistant depression: a Bayesian adaptive randomization trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Electroencephalography research in neuropathic pain (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2026Review
- Neurophysiological subtyping of schizophrenia reveals a reproducible phenotype with temporoparietal circuit disruptions.General psychiatry · 2026Article
- Thalamocortical network dynamics can explain visual impulse responses and perceptual echoes.iScience · 2026Article
- The alpha rhythm: from physiology to behavior.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Mapping Executive Function Performance Based on Resting-State EEG in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic and Mechanistic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Neural Sensitivity to the Heartbeat Is Modulated by Fluctuations in Affective Arousal during Spontaneous Thought.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Lower Cortical Activation and Altered Functional Connectivity Characterize Passive Auditory Spatial Attention in ASD.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025Article
- Individual alpha frequency tACS modifies the detection of space-time optical illusion.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Lower cortical activation and altered functional connectivity characterize passive auditory spatial attention in ASD.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Neural Correlates of Huntington's Disease Based on Electroencephalography (EEG): A Mechanistic Review and Discussion of Excitation and Inhibition (E/I) Imbalance.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Neural sensitivity to the heartbeat is modulated by fluctuations in affective arousal during spontaneous thought.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- A comprehensive investigation of intracortical and corticothalamic models of the alpha rhythm.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Precision data-driven modeling of cortical dynamics reveals person-specific mechanisms underpinning brain electrophysiology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Resting-State EEG Oscillations in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Toward Mechanistic Insights and Clinical Markers.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Novel approaches to EEG and MEG in motor neurone disease: IFCN Handbook Chapter.Clinical neurophysiology practice · 2025Review
- The Posterior Dominant Rhythm Remains Within Normal Limits in the Microgravity Environment.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Modulation of neural oscillations in escitalopram treatment: a Canadian biomarker integration network in depression study.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
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Abstract
The parieto-occipital alpha (8-13 Hz) rhythm is by far the strongest spectral fingerprint in the human brain. Almost 90 years later, its physiological origin is still far from clear. In this Research Topic I review human pharmacological studies using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) that investigated the physiological mechanisms behind posterior alpha. Based on results from classical and recent experimental studies, I find a wide spectrum of drugs that modulate parieto-occipital alpha power. Alpha frequency is rarely affected, but this might be due to the range of drug dosages employed. Animal and human pharmacological findings suggest that both GABA enhancers and NMDA blockers systematically decrease posterior alpha power. Surprisingly, most of the theoretical frameworks do not seem to embrace these empirical findings and the debate on the functional role of alpha oscillations has been polarized between the inhibition vs. active poles hypotheses. Here, I speculate that the functional role of alpha might depend on physiological excitation as much as on physiological inhibition. This is supported by animal and human pharmacological work showing that GABAergic, glutamatergic, cholinergic, and serotonergic receptors in the thalamus and the cortex play a key role in the regulation of alpha power and frequency. This myriad of physiological modulations fit with the view that the alpha rhythm is a complex rhythm with multiple sources supported by both thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical loops. Finally, I briefly discuss how future research combining experimental measurements derived from theoretical predictions based of biophysically realistic computational models will be crucial to the reconciliation of these disparate findings.
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