oscillations – Page 3 – The Miller Lab

16

Jan 2018

New paper: Laminar recordings in frontal cortex suggest distinct layers for maintenance and control of working memory

Miller Lab

Miller Laboratory

This is the first of three papers that all lead to the same general conclusion: Sensory (bottom-up) information is fed forward through cortex by gamma (>50 Hz) waves in superficial cortical layers. Executive (top-down) information is fed back through cortex by alpha/beta waves (4-22 Hz) in deep cortical layers. The beta waves in deep layers regulate superficial layer gamma in a push-pull fashion thereby allowing top-down information to control the flow of bottom-up sensory information. This allows volitional control over what we hold in mind. Stayed tuned for the other two papers. They will appear in the next few weeks.

Bastos, A.M., Loonis, R., Kornblith, S., Lundqvist, M., and Miller, E.K. (2018) Laminar recordings in frontal cortex suggest distinct layers for maintenance and control of working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. published ahead of print January 16, 2018, doi:10.1073/pnas.1710323115

Read MIT press release here.
5

Dec 2017

Functional connectivity between Anterior Cingulate cortex and Orbitofrontal cortex during value-based decision making

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

Low-frequency synchrony between the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex is diminished when errors are made.

Fatahi, Z., Haghparast, A., Khani, A., & Kermani, M. (2017). Functional connectivity between Anterior Cingulate cortex and Orbitofrontal cortex during value-based decision making. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.
15

Nov 2017

When brain rhythms aren’t ‘rhythmic’: implication for their mechanisms and meaning

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

A thoughtful review and discussion of the issues involved in analyzing brain rhythms.

Jones, S. R. (2016). When brain rhythms aren’t ‘rhythmic’: implication for their mechanisms and meaning. Current opinion in neurobiology, 40, 72-80.
7

Nov 2017

Functional integration across oscillation frequencies by cross-frequency phase synchronization

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

There is growing evidence that bottom-up sensory inputs are associated with gamma oscillations (30-120 Hz) while top-down control depends on lower frequencies from delta through beta (1-30 Hz). This review argues that phase-phase synchrony across different frequencies integrates, coordinates, and regulates the neural assemblies in different frequency bands.

Palva, J. M., & Palva, S. (2017). Functional integration across oscillation frequencies by cross‐frequency phase synchronization. European Journal of Neuroscience.
31

Oct 2017

Neural oscillations during conditional associative learning

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

Interesting new results from Charan Ranganath and crew. They show changes in oscillatory dynamics in humans as they learn new visuomotor associations. There was a decrease in theta and an increase in alpha oscillations, much as has been seen in animals.

Clarke, A., Roberts, B. M., & Ranganath, C. (2017). Neural oscillations during conditional associative learning. bioRxiv, 198838.

For further reading:
Loonis, R.F, Brincat, S.L., Antzoulatos, E.G., and Miller, E.K. (2017) A meta-analysis suggests different neural correlates for implicit and explicit learning. Neuron. 96:521-534 View PDF

Brincat, S.L. and Miller, E.K. (2015) Frequency-specific hippocampal-prefrontal interactions during associative learning. Nature Neuroscience. Published online 23 Feb 2015 doi:10.1038/nn.3954. View PDF »

Brincat, S.L. and Miller, E.K (2016) Prefrontal networks shift from external to internal modes during learning Journal of Neuroscience. 36(37): 9739-9754, 2016 doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0274-16.2016. View PDF
26

Sep 2017

Oscillatory Dynamics of Prefrontal Cognitive Control

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

“The Functional Architecture of Cognition Is Rhythmic”. Indeed.

Randolph F. Helfrich, Robert T. Knight, Oscillatory Dynamics of Prefrontal Cognitive Control, In Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Volume 20, Issue 12, 2016, Pages 916-930, ISSN 1364-6613, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.09.007.
22

Sep 2017

New Results: Working Memory Load Modulates Neuronal Coupling

Miller Lab

Miller Laboratory, Neuroscience

We show how limitations in cognitive capacity (how many thoughts you can think at the same time – very few) may be due to changes in rhythmic coupling between cortical areas. More specifically, feedback coupling breaks down when capacity is exceeded.

Working Memory Load Modulates Neuronal Coupling Dimitris A Pinotsis, Timothy J Buschman, Earl K Miller
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/192336
21

Sep 2017

New results: Neuronal rhythms orchestrate cell assembles to distinguish perceptual categories

Miller Lab

Miller Laboratory, Neuroscience

New manuscript submitted to bioRxiv:

Neuronal rhythms orchestrate cell assembles to distinguish perceptual categories
Morteza Moazami Goudarzi, Jason Cromer, Jefferson Roy, Earl K. Miller
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/191247

Abstract
Categories are reflected in the spiking activity of neurons. However, how neurons form ensembles for categories is unclear. To address this, we simultaneously recorded spiking and local field potential (LFP) activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) of monkeys performing a delayed match to category task with two independent category sets (Animals: Cats vs Dogs; Cars: Sports Cars vs Sedans). We found stimulus and category information in alpha and beta band oscillations. Different category distinctions engaged different frequencies. There was greater spike field coherence (SFC) in alpha (~8-14 Hz) for Cats and in beta (~16-22 Hz) for Dogs. Cars showed similar differences, albeit less pronounced: greater alpha SFC for Sedans and greater beta SFC for Sports Cars. Thus, oscillatory rhythms can help coordinate neurons into different ensembles. Engagement of different frequencies may help differentiate the categories.
18

Sep 2017

Occipital Alpha and Gamma Oscillations Support Complementary Mechanisms for Processing Stimulus Value Associations

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

Paper showing different, yet complementary, effects of attention and value on alpha vs gamma oscillations in posterior cortex.

Marshall, T. R., den Boer, S., Cools, R., Jensen, O., Fallon, S. J., & Zumer, J. M. (2017). Occipital Alpha and Gamma Oscillations Support Complementary Mechanisms for Processing Stimulus Value Associations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
9

Aug 2017

Theta Phase Synchronization Between The Human Hippocampus And The Prefrontal Cortex Supports Learning Of Unexpected Information

Miller Lab

Neuroscience

Increased theta synchrony between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus when subjects encoded unexpected study items. This is further evidence that theta-band (6-10 Hz) oscillations orchestrate communication between these brain areas.

Gruber, M. J., Hsieh, L. T., Staresina, B., Elger, C., Fell, J., Axmacher, N., & Ranganath, C. (2017). Theta Phase Synchronization Between The Human Hippocampus And The Prefrontal Cortex Supports Learning Of Unexpected Information. bioRxiv, 144634.

For further reading:

Brincat, S.L. and Miller, E.K. (2015) Frequency-specific hippocampal-prefrontal interactions during associative learning. Nature Neuroscience. Published online 23 Feb 2015 doi:10.1038/nn.3954. View PDF »

Brincat, S.L. and Miller, E.K (2016) Prefrontal networks shift from external to internal modes during learning Journal of Neuroscience. 36(37): 9739-9754, 2016 doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0274-16.2016. View PDF