[Neurophysiological model of cognitive space]

The aim of the study was to find out how EEG rhythmical patterns change with gradual changes of a degree of verbal and spatial thinking involved in the process of task solving. The obtained data allowed us to draw two principally new conclusions. 1. During performance of mixed tasks the spatial and verbal thinking do not mix, and their rhythmical signs are both present with their basic properties preserved. A mixed rhythmical pattern is thus a superposition of a spatial and a verbal pattern. 2. It is possible to introduce a "distance" between mental conditions as a measure of difference in the corresponding EEG power spectra. With such distances calculated, multidimensional scaling methods may be used to represent cognitive states as points on a plane. Cognitive states form constellations with shapes reasonably reflecting psychological properties of cognitive tasks. The results suggest the existence of a "cognitive space", whose structure may be revealed by objective electrophysiological methods.