Abstract
The within-pair similarity of the topographical maps of the spatial synchronization of the cerebral cortical potentials was studied in 11 pairs of monozygotic twins and 20 genetically unrelated subjects in the resting state and during four types of intellectual activity. It was demonstrated that the degree of similarity of the topographical maps is higher in the resting state in the monozygotic twins than in the genetically unrelated subjects. No frequency band of the EEG which exerts a special influence on the formation of the high degree of similarity of the spatial synchronization of the potentials was found. The maximal similarity in the topographical maps of the monozygotic twins is observed in the anterior regions of the left hemisphere and in the temporoparietal regions of the right. Differences between groups are recorded in both regions; however they are especially distinct in the right hemisphere. The data obtained make it possible to draw an inference regarding the influence of a genetic factor not only on individual components of the EEG (which had been previously demonstrated by a number of authors), but also on the systemic organization of the cortical processes. The right-hemispheric activity apparently relates to the most controllable genetic processes. The results of the analysis of the similarity of topographical maps during various types of activity confirm this: the coefficient of similarity reaches the level of significance in the majority of pairs of monozygotic twins only in a “right-hemispheric” test (simultaneous analysis of nonverbal material).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
G. P. Bertyn’The Twin Method for the Study of Oligophrenia in Children [in Russian], Pedagogika, Moscow (1975).
N. A. Gavrilova and A. S. Aslanov, “The use of computer-aided technology for the analysis of the data of electroencephaloscopy in clinical practice,” in:The Mathematical Analysis of Electrical Phenomena of the Brain [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1965), p. 57.
B. I. Kochubei, “The influence of genotype and of environment on the orienting reaction of man,”Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat.,35, No. 3, 428 (1985).
M. N. Livanov,The Spatial Organization of Cerebral Processes [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1972).
T. A. Meshkova and I. V. Ravich-Shcherbo “The role of genotype in the determination of the individual specific characteristics of the resting EEG of man,”Fiziol. Chelov.,4, No. 3, 523 (1978).
L. P. Pavlova, “The cerebral support of processes of the formation of activity,”Fiziol. Chelov.,5, No. 6, 976 (1979).
L. P. Pavlova, “Functional asymmetry and the capacity for work,” in:Functional Asymmetry and Human Adaptation [in Russian], In-t Psikhiatrii MZ SSSR, Moscow (1976), p. 31.
The Role of the Environment and Heredity in the Formation of Human Individuality [in Russian], I. V. Ravich-Shcherbo (ed.), Pedagogika, Moscow (1988).
N. E. Sviderskaya,Synchronous Cerebral Electrical Activity and Mental Processes [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1987).
N. E. Sviderskaya and L. M. Shlitner, “Coherence structures of the electrical activity of the human cerebral cortex,”Fiziol. Chelov.,16, No. 3, 12 (1990).
N. E. Sviderskaya, T. A. Korol’kova, and N. O. Nikolaeva, “The spatial-frequency structure of electrical cortical processes during various intellectual actions of man,”Fiziol. Chelov.,16, No. 5, 5 (1990).
N. E. Sviderskaya, “Conscious and nonconscious information in the human cognitive process,”Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat.,43 (1993).
N. E. Sviderskaya and T. A. Korol’kova, “Fields of heightened activity in the cerebral cortex: electrophysiological correlates,”Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat.,43 (1993).
D. T. Lykken, A. Tellegen, and K. Thorkelson, “Genetic determination of EEG frequecy spectra,”Biol. Psychol., No. 1, 245 (1974).
W. Penfield, “Functional localization in temporal and deep sylvian areas,”Res. Publ. Assoc. Res. Nerv. Ment. Dis.,36, 210 (1958).
H. H. Stassen, G. Bomben, and P. Propping, “Genetic aspects of the EEG: an investigation into the within-pair similarity of monozygotic and dizygotic twins with a new method of analysis,”EEG Clin. Neurophysiol.,66, 489 (1987).
K. Vogel, “The genetic basis of the normal human electroencephalogram (EEG),”Humangenetik,10, 91 (1970).
J. P. Young, M. N. Lader, and G. W. Fenton, “A twin study on the genetic influences on the electroencephalogram,”J. Med. Genet.,9, 13 (1972).
Additional information
Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 44, No. 4-5, pp. 640–649, July–October, 1994.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sviderskaya, N.E., Korol’kova, T.A. Genetic features of the spatial organization of the human cerebral cortex. Neurosci Behav Physiol 25, 370–377 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02359593
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02359593