Changes in the spatial synchronization of neocortical potentials in interstimulus intervals during formation of a set to emotionally negative facial expression

: The model of cognitive set to emotionally negative facial expression was used in the study (35 young healthy subjects) of EEG events in a 8-second interval between the target and triggering stimuli. Coherence of brain potentials recorded from different cortical areas of the right and left brain hemispheres in the alpha and theta bands was analyzed in time segments within pre- and poststimulus intervals. A certain dynamics in the spatial synchronization in the alpha-band was revealed, which might reflect modulation of selective attention in time periods of the cognitive process providing its plasticity and set shift in response to a change in the situation. It is suggested that the source of attention modulation is the inner representation of the intervals between significant stimuli formed in the prefrontal cortex as a result of learning. Analysis of changes in the spatial synchronization in the theta band at individual stages of the set to angry face suggests that the corticohippocampal system is not directly involved in the time interval estimation but is linked to the emotional memory.