Ž . International Journal of Psychophysiology 30 1998 339351 Externally and internally controlled attention in infants: an EEG study Tatiana A. Stroganova a,  , Elena V. Orekhova b , Irina N. Posikera a a Brain Research Institute RAMS, per. Obukha 5, 103064 Moscow, Russia b Psychological Institute RAE, ul. Mokho aya, 9‘V’, 103009 Moscow, Russia Received 25 May 1997; revised 20 January 1998; accepted 5 March 1998 Abstract This work was designed to investigate EEG indices of Internally and Externally Controlled Attention in infancy. Ž. EEG was recorded in 15 infants aged 7  8 months under three experimental conditions: 1 visual attention to a new Ž . Ž. stimulation Externally Controlled Attention or baseline condition ; 2 attention guided by internal cognitive Ž . Ž. schemata during ‘anticipatory’ phase of the peek-a-boo game Internally Controlled Attention ; and 3 ‘reap- Ž . pearance’phase of the peek-a-boo game when the experimenter talked and smiled to an infant reappearance . The Ž . relative power RP in 4  5 single-Hz theta sub-band increased under both phases of the peek-a-boo game. The reactive changes of 4  5 single-Hz RP at prefrontal and frontal leads under the Internally Controlled Attention condition positively correlated with the total time during which an infant was able to maintain ICA. The RP in 5  6 single-Hz theta sub-band significantly increased only under the Internally Controlled Attention condition and did not correlate with the total time of this type of attention. The results support the concept of ‘Diffuse Theta-Response System’that is active during expectancy and effortfully focused attention. In contrast to theta, the RP in 6  7, 7  8, and 8  9 single-Hz bands decreased during both phases of the game. The decrease was maximal at precentral leads Ž . and most probably reflected blockage of the sensorimotor mu rhythm due to higher motility and muscular tension in the game situation. It is concluded that EEG is an adequate vehicle for investigation of brain mechanisms of attention and voluntary control in infants.  1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Infant EEG; Attention control; Diffuse Theta-Response system  Corresponding author. Tel.: 7 95917 0765; e-mail: stroganova@ho.siobc.ras.ru 0167-876098$ - see front matter  1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII S0167-8760 98 00026-9