['Prestimulus EEG alpha activity in humans has been considered to reflect ongoing top-down preparation for the performance of subsequent tasks. Since theta oscillations may be related to poststimulus top-down processing, we investigated whether prestimulus EEG theta activity also reflects top-down cognitive preparation for a stimulus.', 'We recorded EEG data from 15 healthy controls performing a color and shape discrimination task, and used the wavelet transformation to investigate the time course and power of oscillatory activity in the signals. We observed a relationship between both anterior theta and posterior alpha power in the prestimulus period and the type of subsequent task.'] Does task-related modulation of anterior theta and posterior alpha EEG reflect top-down preparation?