Frontal Midline Theta as a Model Specimen of Cortical Theta
James F. Cavanagh, Michael X Cohen
Abstract
Abstract Frontal midline theta-band (4–8 Hz) activity has been observed in the continuous EEG for over 70 years, particularly during the performance of effortful mental tasks. Although theta-band activities are present across a wide range of neural structures and they reflect active operations of the generative areas, this frontal midline variant may be the most reliable and resolvable theta-dominant response in human EEG. This chapter details an integrative history of the elicitors and moderators of frontal midline theta, particularly in relation to event-related potentials, source estimation, translational comparisons, and models of high-level cognitive functions. Leveraging ideas from systems neuroscience, we address the most pressing questions about why frontal midline theta is associated with higher cognitive characteristics, how it transmits information, and what this means for information processing in the brain.