Prestimulus Alpha as a Precursor to Errors in a UAV Target Orientation Detection Task

Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings have been used extensively as an index of task engagement and working memory load (Berka et al . , 2007 ; Gevins, Smith, McEvoy, & Yu, 1 997 ; Kerick, Hatfield, & Allender, 2007) . For example, increases in frontal midline theta activity (5-7 Hz) and decreases in both slow (7. 5 - 1 0 Hz) and fast ( 1 0-1 3 Hz) alpha activity are associated with current working memory demands in both spatial and verbal tasks (Gevins et al . , 1 997 ; Smith, McEvoy, & Gevins, 1 999) . Alpha activity is also affected by training and practice, with increased activity associated with increasing skill level on a given task (Smith et al . , 1 999) .