Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

MEG alpha activity decrease reflects destabilization of multistable percepts.

Daniel Strüber1, Christoph S Herrmann

  • 1Institute of Psychology and Cognition Research & Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Bremen, P O Box 330 440, 28334, Bremen, Germany. struber@uni-bremen.de

Brain Research. Cognitive Brain Research
|November 8, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Reduced task-induced frontal midline theta activity in chronic stroke patients compared to healthy older adults - An MEG study.

NeuroImage. Clinical·2026
Same author

Oscillatory and gaze signatures of socio-emotional speech processing, visuo-spatial cognition, and their interaction in a near-realistic dual-task MEG study.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026
Same author

Low intensity transcranial electric stimulation: Safety, ethical, legal regulatory and application guidelines (2017-2025: An update) - endorsed by the European Society for Brain Stimulation (ESBS) and by the International Federation for Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN).

Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology·2026
Same author

Chronotype in alpha-tACS: Preliminary evidence hints at sleep quality modulation of aftereffects in evening types in the morning.

Neurobiology of sleep and circadian rhythms·2025
Same author

Neuromodulatory Effects of Transcranial Pulse Stimulation (TPS) in Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Neurology international·2025
Same author

Modeling network connectivity may reveal further insights on how transcranial alternating current stimulation modulates brain activity: Comment on "Entrainment by transcranial alternating current stimulation: Insights from models of cortical oscillations and dynamical systems theory" by M. Madadi Asl and A. Valizadeh.

Physics of life reviews·2025
Same journal

Robotic movement elicits automatic imitation.

Brain research. Cognitive brain research·2005
Same journal

On the neural basis of focused and divided attention.

Brain research. Cognitive brain research·2005
Same journal

Task difficulty in a simultaneous face matching task modulates activity in face fusiform area.

Brain research. Cognitive brain research·2005
Same journal

The role of the left Brodmann's areas 44 and 45 in reading words and pseudowords.

Brain research. Cognitive brain research·2005
Same journal

Event-related potentials to violations of inflectional verb morphology in English.

Brain research. Cognitive brain research·2005
Same journal

Individual differences in brain activity during visuo-spatial processing assessed by slow cortical potentials and LORETA.

Brain research. Cognitive brain research·2005
See all related articles

Investigating visual awareness with ambiguous motion, this study found distinct alpha brainwave patterns for internally generated (endogenous) versus externally triggered (exogenous) perceptual shifts, revealing a destabilization process preceding conscious awareness.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • Multistable stimuli enable the study of visual awareness by dissociating perceptual and stimulus-driven mechanisms.
  • Ambiguous motion paradigms allow for the investigation of spontaneous perceptual alternations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To differentiate the neural processes underlying endogenous (spontaneous) and exogenous (externally induced) perceptual reversals.
  • To identify brain activity associated with the initiation of endogenous perceptual shifts.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an ambiguous dot pattern paradigm to induce both endogenous and exogenous motion direction reversals.
  • Recorded whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) from 10 subjects.
  • Analyzed event-related fields (ERFs) and alpha/gamma band oscillatory activity.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Both endogenous and exogenous reversals elicited P300-like slow waves, indicating conscious recognition.
  • Gamma-band activity showed no significant modulation.
  • Alpha activity differed: exogenous reversals showed a decrease post-reversal, while endogenous reversals showed a continuous decrease preceding the shift.

Conclusions:

  • The distinct temporal dynamics of alpha activity suggest a bottom-up destabilization process for endogenous perceptual reversals.
  • Findings provide insights into the neural mechanisms preceding a switch in visual awareness.