ИСТИНА

We studied brain activity in alpha-band during retention of visual characteristics in visual working memory. The subjects (N=10, age=21.5±0.7) were presented with complex shapes like blots (8 variants), colored in different colors (9 variants), which they were asked to remember. A cue was then presented, which tasked the participant to recall the color, shape or both and remember it. After a pause of 2000 ms, a test stimulus was presented. The subject had to answer whether the retained characteristic of the remembered stimulus coincided with the test stimulus. EEG (60 channels) was recorded; Morlet wavelets were calculated in Brainstorm (Tadel, 2011). We analyzed 2000 ms after cue presentation. We found alpha-activity 700-1300 ms after cue when comparing the color of the perceived stimulus with the color in memory. When comparing the shape of the stimulus with the memorized shape, alpha-activity occurred at 1400-1600 ms after cue. Finally, in the series that required comparing both the shape and color of the stimulus and the memory image, alpha-activity occurred at 1100-1300 and 1500-1700 ms. It was shown that the number of alpha rhythm appearances coincided with the number of different characteristics of the visual stimulus in memory that the subject was required to pay attention to. Thus, we hypothesize that the appearance of alpha rhythm when the eyes are open may be evidence of a temporary disabling of visual information processing in the primary visual cortex at moments when the subject is analyzing an image in visual memory. [Funded by Russian Science Foundation (RSF), project 19-18-00474.]