Electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis allows measurement of electrical activity in bundles of neurons around electrodes placed at various locations on the scalp. In this essay, we provide an overview of the biological basis of EEG methodology and outline basic principles and practices of data collection. We conducted a study using EEG to test expectations from two competing cognitive theories of communication—computational theory and dynamic memory theory. Participants (N = 30) were assigned to one of two conditions—routine talk and direction-giving. EEG was used to measure the electrical activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), an area of the brain that is associated with message production. Results indicated that DLPFC activity was far more suggestive of dynamic memory theory. Specifically, electrical activity in the DLPFC was significantly lower during routine talk than during direction-giving. We discuss the implications of our findings and the limitations of EEG methods in communication research.

From a purely methodological perspective, electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis allows measurement of electrical activity in clusters of neurons, at locations in the cortex that reside in close proximity to electrodes placed at various locations on the scalp. Theoretically, however, many of these bundles of neurons should be of considerable interest to communication scientists because some of the neuronal bundles implement cognitive processes that are informative about the ways in which people construct, use, and respond to messages. Although thought-related processes (e.g., action assembly) and cognitive structures (e.g., memory organization packets) are frequently proposed as hypothetical constructs in theories of communication, it is unnecessary to rely solely on assumptions and inferences based on verbal output-type data; in many cases, the hypothetical processes can be specified in terms of neuronal activity in particular locations in the cortex (Pinker, 1997; Wilson, 1998). As Wilson observed, thinking is merely the brain at work.

In this essay, we provide a brief overview of the biological basis of EEG analysis and electrical activity associated with neuron stimulation, outline fundamental principles and practices of EEG data collection (for a more detailed discussion of the historical basis and evolution of technical rationales for the principles, see Heisel, 2009), present a demonstration study in which cognitive processes underlying message production of routine and nonroutine messages are specified in terms of activity in a particular area of the cortex and measured using EEG, and discuss the limitations of EEG methodology.