Individual differences in human topographic EEG power: hemodynamic and psychological predictors

Cortical power spectrum (CPS), a derivative of quantitative EEG, has been studied in human development and varieties of brain functions and dysfunctions. From the EEG literature, consistently a high degree (e.g. 6-15x in alpha amplitude) of individual differences in CPS densities is noted. This study examined the potential biopsychological factors contributing to such a wide range of individual differences in CPS. A set of significant inverse functions between systolic blood pressure and differential topographic CPS densities was observed, indicating that hemodynamic baroreceptor regulatory function may partially account for the individual differences in CPS densities. Furthermore, the trait measure of perceptual factor (reducer-augmenter) was correlated positively with other parameters of CPS densities. These results suggest that hemodynamic and psychological factors are predictive of the individual differences in EEG magnitudes.