Changes in EEG spectral characteristics during periods of recovery of performance in a psychomotor test during spontaneous short-term periods of waking in daytime sleep were studied in 17 healthy subjects. The test consisted of two sequentially alternating tasks: to count from 1 to 10 silently accompanied by synchronized pressing of a button, and silent counting only. The monotonous nature of the test led to a rapid decline in the level of consciousness and, in most cases, induced falling asleep. Presses serves as a behavioral indicator of the recovery of cognitive processes inhibited during sleep. Situations with small (2–5) and relatively large (6–10) numbers of button presses were compared. The start of pressing was preceded by the appearance of generalized α rhythm, which decreas ed during performance of psychomotor activity. The power of this rhythm was always greater in longer periods of observed behavioral activity. The end of pressing returned α-power indicators to levels seen before waking. The EEG α rhythm in decreased consciousness during short-term waking evidently characterized the action of the thalamocortical activatory mechanism and was a necessary condition for motor interaction of the body with the external environment. The absence of any differences in the frontal areas at the initial stage on performance of short-lived activity and longer-lasting activity, approaching performance of the complete cycle of presses, suggested that they are involved to the same extent during this period regardless of the number of presses. This result may provide indirect support for the notion that the observed psychomotor activity, even with a small number of presses, is not automatic and unconscious but is accompanied by reduced and fragmented consciousness.
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