EEG correlates of the acquisition of high- and low-imagery words

EEG was recorded from left and right temporal areas while subjects learnt high- and low-imagery words. Asymmetry in power in the alpha band, in the form of less power from the left hemisphere, was observed only during the learning of high-imagery words. This condition also gave rise bilaterally to more theta power. The difference between conditions in levels of inter-hemispheric coherence predicted, in both frequency bands, relative levels of recall of the two word types. It is suggested that the alpha and theta bands of the EEG may reflect different aspects of information processing in these tasks.