ArticlePLoS computational biology2020
Inferring a simple mechanism for alpha-blocking by fitting a neural population model to EEG spectra.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Passive Brain-Computer Interface Using Textile-Based Electroencephalography.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Data reconstruction from machine learning models via inverse estimation and Bayesian inference.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A comprehensive investigation of intracortical and corticothalamic models of the alpha rhythm.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Xenon anaesthesia is associated with a reduction in frontal electroencephalogram peak alpha frequency.BJA open · 2024Article
- Evolutionary origin of alpha rhythms in vertebrates.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Review
- Global nonlinear approach for mapping parameters of neural mass models.PLoS computational biology · 2023Article
- Central and peripheral nervous system responses to chronic and paced hyperventilation in anxious and healthy subjects.Biological psychology · 2023Article
- Assessment of Model Accuracy in Eyes Open and Closed EEG Data: Effect of Data Pre-Processing and Validation Methods.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Dynamic causal modelling shows a prominent role of local inhibition in alpha power modulation in higher visual cortex.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
- Article
- Alpha blocking and 1/fβ spectral scaling in resting EEG can be accounted for by a sum of damped alpha band oscillatory processes.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
- On the Operational Utility of Measures of Multichannel EEGs.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The combination of acute exercise and eye closure has a synergistic effect on alpha activity.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Global search metaheuristics for neural mass model calibration.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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Abstract
Alpha blocking, a phenomenon where the alpha rhythm is reduced by attention to a visual, auditory, tactile or cognitive stimulus, is one of the most prominent features of human electroencephalography (EEG) signals. Here we identify a simple physiological mechanism by which opening of the eyes causes attenuation of the alpha rhythm. We fit a neural population model to EEG spectra from 82 subjects, each showing a different degree of alpha blocking upon opening of their eyes. Though it has been notoriously difficult to estimate parameters by fitting such models, we show how, by regularizing the differences in parameter estimates between eyes-closed and eyes-open states, we can reduce the uncertainties in these differences without significantly compromising fit quality. From this emerges a parsimonious explanation for the spectral differences between states: Changes to just a single parameter, pei, corresponding to the strength of a tonic excitatory input to the inhibitory cortical population, are sufficient to explain the reduction in alpha rhythm upon opening of the eyes. We detect this by comparing the shift in each model parameter between eyes-closed and eyes-open states. Whereas changes in most parameters are weak or negligible and do not scale with the degree of alpha attenuation across subjects, the change in pei increases monotonically with the degree of alpha blocking observed. These results indicate that opening of the eyes reduces alpha activity by increasing external input to the inhibitory cortical population.
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