Prestimulus neural alpha power predicts confidence in discriminating identical tones

Abstract There is growing evidence that the power of prestimulus neural alpha oscillations (∼10 Hz) holds information on a perceiver’s bias or confidence in an ensuing perceptual decision, rather than perceptual sensitivity per se. Obviously, however, confidence also depends on the physical evidence available in the stimulus as well as on task performance. If prestimulus alpha power has a direct impact on decision confidence, this link should hold independent of variations in stimulus evidence and performance. We tested this assertion in a paradigm where human listeners (n = 17) rated their confidence in the discrimination of the pitch of two identical tones. Lower prestimulus alpha power in the electroencephalogram (EEG) was predictive of higher confidence ratings, but not of the decision outcome (i.e., judging the first or the second tone as being higher in pitch). Importantly, the link between prestimulus alpha power and decision confidence was not mediated by auditory evoked activity. Our findings demonstrate that the link between prestimulus alpha power and decision confidence does not hinge on physical evidence in the stimulus or task performance. Instead, these results speak to a model wherein low prestimulus alpha power increases neural baseline excitability, which is reflected in enhanced stimulus-evoked neural responses and higher confidence. Significance statement In order to understand the mechanistic relevance of neural oscillations for perception, we here relate these directly to changes in human auditory decision confidence. Human subjects rated their confidence in the discrimination of the pitch of two tones, which were, unbeknownst to the listener, physically identical. In the absence of changing evidence in the physical stimulus or changes in task performance, we demonstrate that prestimulus alpha power negatively relates to decision confidence. Our results support a model of cortical alpha oscillations as a proxy for neural baseline excitability in which lower prestimulus alpha power does not lead to more precise but rather to overall amplified neural representations.