ELEMENTARY FUNCTIONAL CORRELATES OF THE TRANSCEPHALIC DC CIRCUIT

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Abstract
A brief general theory is proposed linking the transcephalic DC potential, which is recorded on the midline surface of the head over the frontal and occipital emissary veins, with a certain functional organization of the brain. From this it is proposed that interoceptive or protopathic afferents—carotid sinus, carotid body, vestibular, and visceral—should produce a positive frontal deflection, while exteroceptive or epicritic afferents—tactile, auditory, proprioceptive, gustatory, visual, and olfactory—should produce a negative frontal DC shift. It is proposed that hunger promotes a negative frontal base line, satiety a positive one, and anxiety increases the base‐line variance of a group. A relationship is proposed between frontal negativity and body metabolic peaks. It is proposed that a noxious exteroceptive stimulus produces a positive frontal shift, despite its cortical projection. The hypotheses were tested using normal adult male Ss and good agreement between results and predictions was found.

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