Traveling waves in the prefrontal cortex during working memory
Abstract
Neural oscillations are evident across cortex but their spatial structure is not well- explored. Are oscillations stationary or do they form “traveling waves”, i.e., spatially organized patterns whose peaks and troughs move sequentially across cortex? Here, we show that oscillations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) organized as traveling waves in the theta (4-8Hz), alpha (8-12Hz) and beta (12-30Hz) bands. Some traveling waves were planar but most rotated. The waves were modulated during performance of a working memory task. During baseline conditions, waves flowed bidirectionally along a specific axis of orientation. Waves in different frequency bands could travel in different directions. During task performance, there was an increase in waves in one direction over the other, especially in the beta band.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 28, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009827
Entities
People
- Earl K. Miller
- Mikael Lundqvist
- Sayak Bhattacharya
- Scott L Brincat
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Office of Naval Research