814 research outputs found
The Local Field Potential Reflects Surplus Spike Synchrony
The oscillatory nature of the cortical local field potential (LFP) is
commonly interpreted as a reflection of synchronized network activity, but its
relationship to observed transient coincident firing of neurons on the
millisecond time-scale remains unclear. Here we present experimental evidence
to reconcile the notions of synchrony at the level of neuronal spiking and at
the mesoscopic scale. We demonstrate that only in time intervals of excess
spike synchrony, coincident spikes are better entrained to the LFP than
predicted by the locking of the individual spikes. This effect is enhanced in
periods of large LFP amplitudes. A quantitative model explains the LFP dynamics
by the orchestrated spiking activity in neuronal groups that contribute the
observed surplus synchrony. From the correlation analysis, we infer that
neurons participate in different constellations but contribute only a fraction
of their spikes to temporally precise spike configurations, suggesting a dual
coding scheme of rate and synchrony. This finding provides direct evidence for
the hypothesized relation that precise spike synchrony constitutes a major
temporally and spatially organized component of the LFP. Revealing that
transient spike synchronization correlates not only with behavior, but with a
mesoscopic brain signal corroborates its relevance in cortical processing.Comment: 45 pages, 8 figures, 3 supplemental figure
LFP beta amplitude is predictive of mesoscopic spatio-temporal phase patterns
Beta oscillations observed in motor cortical local field potentials (LFPs)
recorded on separate electrodes of a multi-electrode array have been shown to
exhibit non-zero phase shifts that organize into a planar wave propagation.
Here, we generalize this concept by introducing additional classes of patterns
that fully describe the spatial organization of beta oscillations. During a
delayed reach-to-grasp task in monkey primary motor and dorsal premotor
cortices we distinguish planar, synchronized, random, circular, and radial
phase patterns. We observe that specific patterns correlate with the beta
amplitude (envelope). In particular, wave propagation accelerates with growing
amplitude, and culminates at maximum amplitude in a synchronized pattern.
Furthermore, the occurrence probability of a particular pattern is modulated
with behavioral epochs: Planar waves and synchronized patterns are more present
during movement preparation where beta amplitudes are large, whereas random
phase patterns are dominant during movement execution where beta amplitudes are
small
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Large-scale changes in cortical dynamics triggered by repetitive somatosensory electrical stimulation.
BackgroundRepetitive somatosensory electrical stimulation (SES) of forelimb peripheral nerves is a promising therapy; studies have shown that SES can improve motor function in stroke subjects with chronic deficits. However, little is known about how SES can directly modulate neural dynamics. Past studies using SES have primarily used noninvasive methods in human subjects. Here we used electrophysiological recordings from the rodent primary motor cortex (M1) to assess how SES affects neural dynamics at the level of single neurons as well as at the level of mesoscale dynamics.MethodsWe performed acute extracellular recordings in 7 intact adult Long Evans rats under ketamine-xylazine anesthesia while they received transcutaneous SES. We recorded single unit spiking and local field potentials (LFP) in the M1 contralateral to the stimulated arm. We then compared neural firing rate, spike-field coherence (SFC), and power spectral density (PSD) before and after stimulation.ResultsFollowing SES, the firing rate of a majority of neurons changed significantly from their respective baseline values. There was, however, a diversity of responses; some neurons increased while others decreased their firing rates. Interestingly, SFC, a measure of how a neuron's firing is coupled to mesoscale oscillatory dynamics, increased specifically in the δ-band, also known as the low frequency band (0.3- 4 Hz). This increase appeared to be driven by a change in the phase-locking of broad-spiking, putative pyramidal neurons. These changes in the low frequency range occurred without a significant change in the overall PSD.ConclusionsRepetitive SES significantly and persistently altered the local cortical dynamics of M1 neurons, changing both firing rates as well as the SFC magnitude in the δ-band. Thus, SES altered the neural firing and coupling to ongoing mesoscale dynamics. Our study provides evidence that SES can directly modulate cortical dynamics
Spatio-Temporal Patterning in Primary Motor Cortex at Movement Onset
Voluntary movement initiation involves the engagement of large populations of motor cortical neurons around movement onset. Despite knowledge of the temporal dynamics that lead to movement, the spatial structure of these dynamics across the cortical surface remains unknown. In data from 4 rhesus macaques, we show that the timing of attenuation of beta frequency local field potential oscillations, a correlate of locally activated cortex, forms a spatial gradient across primary motor cortex (MI). We show that these spatio-temporal dynamics are recapitulated in the engagement order of ensembles of MI neurons. We demonstrate that these patterns are unique to movement onset and suggest that movement initiation requires a precise spatio-temporal sequential activation of neurons in MI
Large-scale Spatiotemporal Spike Patterning Consistent with Wave Propagation in Motor Cortex
Aggregate signals in cortex are known to be spatiotemporally organized as propagating waves across the cortical surface, but it remains unclear whether the same is true for spiking activity in individual neurons. Furthermore, the functional interactions between cortical neurons are well documented but their spatial arrangement on the cortical surface has been largely ignored. Here we use a functional network analysis to demonstrate that a subset of motor cortical neurons in non-human primates spatially coordinate their spiking activity in a manner that closely matches wave propagation measured in the beta oscillatory band of the local field potential. We also demonstrate that sequential spiking of pairs of neuron contains task-relevant information that peaks when the neurons are spatially oriented along the wave axis. We hypothesize that the spatial anisotropy of spike patterning may reflect the underlying organization of motor cortex and may be a general property shared by other cortical areas
The Parietal Reach Region Selectively Anti-Synchronizes with Dorsal Premotor Cortex during Planning
Recent reports have indicated that oscillations shared across distant cortical regions can enhance their connectivity, but do coherent oscillations ever diminish connectivity? We investigated oscillatory activity in two distinct reach-related regions in the awake behaving monkey (Macaca mulatta): the parietal reach region (PRR) and the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd). PRR and PMd were found to oscillate at similar frequencies (beta, 15–30 Hz) during periods of fixation and movement planning. At first glance, the stronger oscillator of the two, PRR, would seem to drive the weaker, PMd. However, a more fine-grained measure, the partial spike-field coherence, revealed a different relationship. Relative to global beta-band activity in the brain, action potentials in PRR anti-synchronize with PMd oscillations. These data suggest that, rather than driving PMd during planning, PRR neurons fire in such a way that they are less likely to communicate information to PMd
Temporal structure in neuronal activity during working memory in Macaque parietal cortex
A number of cortical structures are reported to have elevated single unit
firing rates sustained throughout the memory period of a working memory task.
How the nervous system forms and maintains these memories is unknown but
reverberating neuronal network activity is thought to be important. We studied
the temporal structure of single unit (SU) activity and simultaneously recorded
local field potential (LFP) activity from area LIP in the inferior parietal
lobe of two awake macaques during a memory-saccade task. Using multitaper
techniques for spectral analysis, which play an important role in obtaining the
present results, we find elevations in spectral power in a 50--90 Hz (gamma)
frequency band during the memory period in both SU and LFP activity. The
activity is tuned to the direction of the saccade providing evidence for
temporal structure that codes for movement plans during working memory. We also
find SU and LFP activity are coherent during the memory period in the 50--90 Hz
gamma band and no consistent relation is present during simple fixation.
Finally, we find organized LFP activity in a 15--25 Hz frequency band that may
be related to movement execution and preparatory aspects of the task. Neuronal
activity could be used to control a neural prosthesis but SU activity can be
hard to isolate with cortical implants. As the LFP is easier to acquire than SU
activity, our finding of rich temporal structure in LFP activity related to
movement planning and execution may accelerate the development of this medical
application.Comment: Originally submitted to the neuro-sys archive which was never
publicly announced (was 0005002
Neural synchrony within the motor system: what have we learned so far?
Synchronization of neural activity is considered essential for information processing in the nervous system. Both local and inter-regional synchronization are omnipresent in different frequency regimes and relate to a variety of behavioral and cognitive functions. Over the years, many studies have sought to elucidate the question how alpha/mu, beta, and gamma synchronization contribute to motor control. Here, we review these studies with the purpose to delineate what they have added to our understanding of the neural control of movement. We highlight important findings regarding oscillations in primary motor cortex, synchronization between cortex and spinal cord, synchronization between cortical regions, as well as abnormal synchronization patterns in a selection of motor dysfunctions. The interpretation of synchronization patterns benefits from combining results of invasive and non-invasive recordings, different data analysis tools, and modeling work. Importantly, although synchronization is deemed to play a vital role, it is not the only mechanism for neural communication. Spike timing and rate coding act together during motor control and should therefore both be accounted for when interpreting movement-related activity
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