The present study investigated the readiness potential (RP) preceding a brisk extension of the right middle finger during different arousal states as monitored by skin potential level (SPL). The late component of the readiness potential in the medium arousal state was significantly larger than those in the low and high arousal states. This finding indicates that the RP waveform may vary as a function of arousal stares suggesting the inverse U-shaped relationship proposed in studies of the contingent negative variation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
DeeckeL.GrozingerB., & KornhuberH. (1976) Voluntary finger movement in man: cerebral potentials and theory. Biological Cybernetics, 23, 99–119.
2.
DeeckeL.KornhuberH. H.LangW.LangM., & SchreiberH. (1985) Timing function of the frontal cortex in sequential motor and learning tasks. Human Neurobiology, 4, 143–154.
3.
GaillardA. W. K., & NäätänenR. (1980) Some baseline effects on the CNV. Biological Psychology10, 31–39.
4.
HeinP. L. (1969) Heart rate conditioning in the cat and its relationship to other physiological responses. Psychophysiology, 5, 455–464.
5.
IkedaA.LudersH. O.BurgessR. C., & ShibasakiH. (1993) Movement-related potentials associated with single and repetitive movements recorded from human supplementary motor area. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 89, 269–277.
6.
IrwinD. A.KnottJ. R.McAdamD. W., & RebertC. S. (1966) Motivational determinants of the “contingent negative variation”. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 21, 538–543.
7.
KornhuberH. H., & DeeckeL. (1965) Hirnpotentialänderungen bei Willkürbewegungen und Passiven Bewegungen des Menschen: Bereitschaftspotential und reafferente Potentiale. Pflüger Archives, 284, 1–17.
8.
LangW.LangM.HeiseB.DeeckeL., & KornhuberH. H. (1984) Brain potential related to voluntary hand tracking, motivation and attention. Human Neurobiology, 3, 235–240.
9.
LeidermanP. H., & ShapiroD. (1964) Studies on the galvanic skin potential level: some behavioral correlates. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 7, 277–281.
10.
MasakiH.TakasawaH., & YamazakiK. (1998) Enhanced negative slope of the readiness potential preceding a target force production task. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 108, 390–397.
11.
McAdamD. W., & SealesD. M. (1969) Bereitschaftspotential enhancement with increased level of motivation. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 27, 73–75.
12.
NaitohP., & HilbertR. (1976) CNV heart-rate response under gradual sleep reduction. In McCallumW. C. & KnottJ. R. (Eds.), The responsive brain. London: John Wright. Pp. 60–63.
13.
NeshigeR.LüdersH., & ShibasakiH. (1988) Recording of movement-related potentials from scalp and cortex in man. Brain, 111, 719–736.
14.
ShibasakiH.BarrettG.HallidayE., & HallidayA. M. (1980) Components of the movement-related cortical potential and their scalp topography. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 49, 213–226.
15.
SkinnerJ. E., & YinglingC. D. (1977) Central gating mechanism that regulated event-related potentials and behavior. In DesmendtJ. E. (Ed.), Attention, voluntary contraction and event-related cerebral potentialsBasel, Switz.: Karger. Pp. 30–69.
16.
TrimmelM. (1987) Contingent negetive variation (CNV) influenced by preceding slow potential shifts (pSPRs). Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 66, 71–74.
17.
VaughanH. G.Jr.CostaL. D.GildenL., & SchimmelH. (1965) Identification of sensory and motor components of cerebral activity in simple reaction-time tasks. Proceedings of the 73rd Convention of the American Psychological Association, 1, 179–180.
18.
VaughanH. G.Jr.CostaL. D., & RitterW. (1968) Topography of the human motor potential. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 25, 1–10.
19.
WalterW. G.CooperR.AldridgeV. L.McCallumW. G., & WinterA. L. (1964) Contingent negative variation: an electric sign of sensori-motor association and expectancy in the human brain. Nature, 203, 380–384.
20.
YamazakiK., & TajimiT. (1972) What is skin potential level?Psychophysiology, 9, 650–652.
