Abstract
Various studies have implicated the oculomotor system as possibly being involved in the biofeedback control of alpha activity with the eyes closed. This study investigated the effect of degree of eye convergence (and accompanying changes in accommodation) on alpha activity level both with the eyes open and closed. The effectiveness of eye convergence as a means of voluntarily controlling alpha activity level with the aid of EEG- or EOG-modulated auditory feedback also was investigated. Degree of eye convergence was found to be inversely related to alpha level both with the eyes open and closed. The two variables also were found to covary when subjects attempted, with the aid of biofeedback, to generate high or low levels of alpha activity with their eyes closed. The activation of visual cortex as manifested through changes in alpha activity appears to be increased when the eyes assume a position for viewing near objects, even when they are closed.
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Eason, R. G., & Sadler, R. R. Voluntary alpha control. visually evoked potentials, and peripheral physiological Indicants of activation. Manuscript submitted for publication, 1976.
Sadler, R. R., & Eason, R. G. Physiological correlates of voluntary production and suppression of alpha activity. Paper presented at the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Hollywood, Florida, April 1975.
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This study was presented orally at thePsychonomic Society meetings held in Denver in 1975.
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Eason, R.G., Sadler, R. Relationship between voluntary control of alpha activity level through auditory feedback and degree of eye convergence. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 9, 21–24 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336917
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336917