М.V. Konstantinova - Post-graduate Student, Department of Neurobiology, Lomonosov Moscow State University E-mail: maria.konstantinova.msu@gmail.com N.S. Ermachenko - Ph.D. (Biol.), Scientific Associate, Department of Neurobiology, Lomonosov Moscow State University E-mail: natalia.msu@gmail.com V.N. Anisimov - Ph.D. (Biol.), Scientific Associate, Department of Neurobiology, Lomonosov Moscow State University E-mail: viktoanisimov@yandex.ru А.V. Latanov - Dr.Sc. (Biol.), Professor, Head of Department, Department of Neurobiology, Lomonosov Moscow State University E-mail: latanov.msu@gmail.com

Successful problem solving depends on experience and interest. A person can use two strategies of thinking (divergent and convergent) for mental problem solving. Functional state of successful mental and action performance as well as employment of different strategies of thinking have relations to the amplitude dynamic of EEG in alpha frequency band. Event-related changes in upper alpha-subband power (10-13 Hz) are concerned with sensory-semantic processing. Divergent thinking is accompanied by upper alpha power increasing, whereas convergent thinking is attended by alpha power decreasing. Right hemisphere alpha power is higher than alpha power in left hemisphere in a presence of divergent thinking wide application. We have studied the dynamics of EEG power (10/20 standard electrode positions: O1, O2, P3, P4, C3, C4, F3, F4) during interesting (dedicated) and uninteresting (undedicated) task solving. Our participants were upper-form pupils (6 males, 6 females) who take an interest in biology or physics. They were solving four types of school problem tasks: biology test, physics test, creative biology tasks and creative physics tasks. As a control we recorded EEG during nonsemantic tasks performance. We analyzed the averaged power spectra in 10-13 Hz frequency band. Mental activity in different semantic contents has psychophysiological correlates in upper alpha-subband. Problem solving in familiar semantic content is accompanied by bigger alpha-power in comparison with problem solving in other semantic content in both groups of pupils (pupils-biologists and pupils-physicists). This phenomenon is observed in left and right frontal, central and occipital areas, also in right parietal area (P4). Pupils-biologists have higher upper alpha power during biology problem solving in comparison with control. But no significant differences are observed between nonsemantic tasks and pupils-physicists-s dedicated tasks performance. We suppose that such effect is concerned with task structure. So we suggest that biology problem solving and physics problem solving demands different employment ratio of divergent and convergent thinking. Asymmetry of upper alpha-subband power during dedicated problem solving is observed in extended cortical surface for pupils-biologists (central, parietal and occipital lobes) in comparison with pupils-physicists (parietal lobe). Presumably this phenomenon is related with task structure too. Thus the dynamics of upper alpha-subband power represents a psychophysiological correlate of the mental activity in different semantic content.

 

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