THE SCINTILLATING WORLD OF ATTENTION - NE UROPHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OFCOGNITIVE-PROCESSES

The examination of mental processes by means of coherence analysis yie lds significant differences of the cooperation between different brain regions with respect to the EEG at rest. Moreover, differences of abi lity (or education, respectively), such as musicality or artistic tale nt and of verbal creativity were found in the EEG. Such differences ma nifest themselves in the degree of synchronization of the EEG in diffe rent brain areas. These findings are interpreted as electrophysiologic al manifestations of differential attention, which is a most complex p rocess and at the basis of all mental processes. Cellular studies have shown that information transfer within the cortex takes place via syn chronization of groups of neurons rather than via single discharges. T he phenomena underlying the different degrees of coherence are thought to be the electrophysiological manifestation of these events on the l evel of the EEG.