MULTIBAND TOPOGRAPHIC EEG-ANALYSIS OF A SIMULATED VISUOMOTOR AVIATIONTASK

Topographic EEG spectral magnitudes from 19 cortical sites were compar ed in 15 adult male subjects during performance of a simulated flight task and during control conditions which attempted to separately evalu ate functional components of this task. Four conditions were studied, including eyes closed, a visual control, a motor control and a simulat ed landing task requiring integration of both visual and motor compone nts. Each condition was repeated twice in a counterbalanced replicated measures design. A linked-ear EEG reference was used and spectral mag nitudes calculated for 6 frequency bands. Decisions concerning band wi dth and spectral transform were empirically determined. Findings indic ated no significant differences between replications. A broad posterio r cortical suppression of all frequencies was observed in the visual c ontrol condition. Anterior sites were affected only in the 7-12 Hz ran ge. Additional suppression was seen during the motor control condition but limited to frontocentral sites in the 11-13 Hz band. The flight t ask, however, produced a further suppression at centroparietal cortex in the 9-13 Hz range. The extraction of both attentional and motor com ponents from this task suggests that the parietal EEG activation was s pecific to cognitive processing.