Sensory Motor Rhythm

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Wikipedia

 

 

SMR waves

The Sensory Motor Rhythm (SMR) is brain wave rhythm. It is an oscillatory idle rhythm of synchronized electromagnetic brain activity. It appears in spindles in recordings of EEG, MEG, and ECoG over the sensorimotor cortex. For most individuals, the frequency of the SMR is in the range of 12 to 15 Hz. The feline SMR has been noted as being analogous to the human mu rhythm.

Meaning

The meaning of SMR is not fully understood. Phenomenologically, a person is producing a stronger SMR amplitude when the corresponding sensory-motor areas are idle, e.g. during states of immobility. SMR typically decrease in amplitude when the corresponding sensory or motor areas are activated, e.g. during motor tasks and even during motor imagery.

Conceptually, SMR is sometimes mixed up with alpha waves of occipital origin, the strongest source of neural signals in the EEG. One reason might be, that without appropriate spatial filtering the SMR is very difficult to detect as it is usually superimposed by the stronger occipital alpha waves.

Relevance in research

Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback training can be used to gain control over the SMR activity. Neurofeedback practitioners believe—and have produced experimental evidence to back up their claims —that this feedback enables the subject to learn the regulation of their own SMR. People with learning difficulties, ADHD, epilepsy, and autism may benefit from an increase in SMR activity via neurofeedback. In the field of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), the deliberate modification of the SMR amplitude during motor imagery can be used to control external applications.

http://qeegsupport.com/

Mark Beeman: Neural Activity in Insight

Animation of the last half second (from -0.5 to -0.2) of high-frequency electrical activity at the scalp prior to the button press indicating subjects had solved a problem with insight.

In two experiments, we observed objective neural correlates of insight: fMRI revealed increased activity in the right hemisphere anterior Superior Temporal Gyrus for insight relative to noninsight solutions. The same region was active during initial solving efforts, demonstrating this area is not involved solely in an emotional response to the solution.

In addition, EEG revealed a sudden burst of high-frequency (gamma-band) neural activity in the same area beginning about a third of a second prior to insight solutions.

This right anterior temporal area helps make connections across distantly related information during comprehension. Although all problem solving relies on a largely shared cortical network, the sudden flash of insight occurs when solvers engage distinct neural and cognitive processes that allow them to see connections that previously eluded them.