Subjective aspects of alpha enhancement

Early reports on enhancing occipital alpha through feedback noted that subjects reported the experience as being pleasant and relaxing. This paper reports the subjective experiences of 140 subjects who participated in four studies which examined the alpha enhancement phenomenon. Under both eyes-open...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBritish journal of psychiatry Vol. 127; p. 122
Main Authors Travis, T A, Kondo, C Y, Knott, J R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.08.1975
Subjects
Achievement
Affect
Alpha Rhythm
Auditory Perception
Cognition
Feedback
Female
Humans
Male
Reinforcement Schedule
Relaxation
Reward
Visual Perception
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Summary:Early reports on enhancing occipital alpha through feedback noted that subjects reported the experience as being pleasant and relaxing. This paper reports the subjective experiences of 140 subjects who participated in four studies which examined the alpha enhancement phenomenon. Under both eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions, approximately 50 per cent of the subjects reported that alpha enhancement was "pleasant' and 50 per cent "unpleasant/neutral'. With eyes-open training conditions, about half the subjects stated that the experience was "relaxing' and the other half "not relaxing'. During eyes-closed training, 63 per cent of the subjects noted that enhancing alpha was "relaxing', while 37 per cent reported that the experience was "not relaxing'. However, in the last case the circular relationship between increased alpha and deep relaxation may obtain.
ISSN:0007-1250
DOI:10.1192/bjp.127.2.122