Gamma (Low)
40.00 Hz
40 Hz is in the gamma band of brain activity, as recorded by EEG (sensors on the scalp).
How well is this supported?
Measured directly, or defined by a published standard.
The band is a standard way of describing EEG recordings. Band edges are conventions, and what a person experiences varies. This is not medical information.
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About this number
40 Hz is in the gamma band of brain activity, as recorded by EEG (sensors on the scalp). A 2017 glossary from the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) puts gamma at above 30 Hz up to 80 Hz. Band edges are conventions and vary by source. Gamma activity is studied in attention and perception. Scalp measurements of gamma are easily contaminated by muscle activity.
What is said about it
What is said, not what was measured
Gamma activity is hypothesized to help the brain bind sensory information together. Popular descriptions go further and link 40 Hz to higher cognition and "consciousness integration". One small study (2004) of 8 long-term meditators and 10 controls reported higher gamma activity at 25 to 42 Hz in the meditators.
Facts
- Frequency
- 40.00 Hz
- Kind of statement
- EEG band
- Filed under
- Brainwave bands
Sources
- IFCN glossary of EEG terms
The standard definitions of the delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands.
N. Kane et al., Clinical Neurophysiology Practice 2 (2017) 170–185.
View source: IFCN glossary of EEG terms - Gamma activity in long-term meditators
Cited for the ranges in which higher gamma activity was reported: 25 to 42 Hz, in 8 practitioners and 10 others (2004), and 60 to 110 Hz (2017).
A. Lutz et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101 (2004) 16369. C. Braboszcz et al. (2017).