EEG correlates of acquisition and extinction of expectancy (Memorial Paper in Honor of Jerzy Konorski)

Abstract

The work to be described was begun in 1958 at the Montreal Neurological Institute in order to verify some of the prevailing neurophysiological notions concerning the mechanisms of habituation and attention. The results dealing with the EEG correlates of habituation and acquisition of expectancy were presented at the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association (Mahut 1959). Beginning in 1960 other authors started questioning the validity of the claims regarding mechanisms of attention that had been previously reported in the physiological literature. I hesitated, therefore, to publish my data. Professor Konorski, however, kindly urged me to do so, particularly the results concerned with the EEG of extinction and the effects of arousal on cortical electrophysiology. It is to his memory that this report is dedicated.