In-flight electrocorticograms compared to ground controls in behaving monkeys: differences in attentional states?

Electrocorticographic recordings were taken from the posterior parietal cortical area in monkeys performing a variety of tasks on ground and in space flight. The question addressed here was whether ECoG analysis would be a reliable index of attention to the learned task. It is shown that measuring the instantaneous frequency, rather than instrumentally evaluating the spectral content of the ECoG, may provide useful information on the attentional states of the animals. Investigations on Rhesus performed in Paris provided a useful database to evaluate the more complex results obtained in the Russian experiments with space flights, during which, according to the ECoG marker, some attentional disorders occurred. It is not unreasonable to envisage using similar evaluation in the scalp EEG in human flights in the future.