Multiband topographic EEG analysis of a simulated visuomotor aviation task

Topographic EEG spectral magnitudes from 19 cortical sites were compared in 15 adult male subjects during performance of a simulated flight task and during control conditions which attempted to separately evaluate functional components of this task. Four conditions were studied, including eyes closed, a visual control, a motor control and a simulated landing task requiring integration of both visual and motor components. Each condition was repeated twice in a counterbalanced replicated measures design. A linked-ear EEG reference was used and spectral magnitudes calculated for 6 frequency bands. Decisions concerning band width and spectral transform were empirically determined. Findings indicated no significant differences between replications. A broad posterior cortical suppression of all frequencies was observed in the visual control condition. Anterior sites were affected only in the 7-12 Hz range. Additional suppression was seen during the motor control condition but limited to frontocentral sites in the 11-13 Hz band. The flight task, however, produced a further suppression at centroparietal cortex in the 9-13 Hz range. The extraction of both attentional and motor components from this task suggests that the parietal EEG activation was specific to cognitive processing.