Widespread theta synchrony and high-frequency desynchronization underlies enhanced cognition

E. A. Solomon (), J. E. Kragel, M. R. Sperling, A. Sharan, G. Worrell, M. Kucewicz, C. S. Inman, B. Lega, K. A. Davis, J. M. Stein, B. C. Jobst, K. A. Zaghloul, S. A. Sheth, D. S. Rizzuto and M. J. Kahana ()
Additional contact information
E. A. Solomon: University of Pennsylvania
J. E. Kragel: University of Pennsylvania
M. R. Sperling: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
A. Sharan: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
G. Worrell: Mayo Clinic
M. Kucewicz: Mayo Clinic
C. S. Inman: Emory School of Medicine
B. Lega: University of Texas Southwestern
K. A. Davis: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
J. M. Stein: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
B. C. Jobst: Dartmouth Medical Center
K. A. Zaghloul: National Institutes of Health
S. A. Sheth: Columbia University Medical Center
D. S. Rizzuto: University of Pennsylvania
M. J. Kahana: University of Pennsylvania

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract The idea that synchronous neural activity underlies cognition has driven an extensive body of research in human and animal neuroscience. Yet, insufficient data on intracranial electrical connectivity has precluded a direct test of this hypothesis in a whole-brain setting. Through the lens of memory encoding and retrieval processes, we construct whole-brain connectivity maps of fast gamma (30–100 Hz) and slow theta (3–8 Hz) spectral neural activity, based on data from 294 neurosurgical patients fitted with indwelling electrodes. Here we report that gamma networks desynchronize and theta networks synchronize during encoding and retrieval. Furthermore, for nearly all brain regions we studied, gamma power rises as that region desynchronizes with gamma activity elsewhere in the brain, establishing gamma as a largely asynchronous phenomenon. The abundant phenomenon of theta synchrony is positively correlated with a brain region’s gamma power, suggesting a predominant low-frequency mechanism for inter-regional communication.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01763-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01763-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01763-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().