Effects of beta- and gamma-band rhythmic stimulation on motor inhibition

Voluntary movements are accompanied by an increase in gamma-band oscillatory activity (60-100Hz) and a strong desynchronization of beta-band activity (13-30Hz) in the motor system at both the cortical and subcortical level. Conversely, successful motor inhibition is associated with increased beta power in a fronto-basal-ganglia network. Intriguingly, gamma activity also increases in response to a stop-signal. In this study, we used transcranial alternating current stimulation to drive beta and gamma oscillations to investigate whether these frequencies are causally related to motor inhibition. We found that 20Hz stimulation targeted at the pre-supplementary motor area enhanced inhibition and increased beta oscillatory activity around the time of the stop-signal in trials directly following stimulation. In contrast, 70Hz stimulation seemed to slow down the braking process, and predominantly affected go task performance. These results demonstrate that the effects of tACS are state-dependent and that especially fronto-central beta activity is a functional marker for successful motor inhibition.

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A Novel Tool for the Removal of Muscle Artefacts from EEG: Improving Data Quality in the Gamma Frequency Range

10.1101/2020.11.23.393702 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alina Pauline Liebisch ◽

Thomas Eggert ◽

Alina Shindy ◽

Elia Valentini ◽

Stephanie Irving ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Quality ◽

Time Course ◽

Muscular Activity ◽

Gamma Oscillations ◽

Gamma Band ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Single Muscle ◽

Frequency Range ◽

Continuous Eeg ◽

Artefact Removal

AbstractBackgroundThe past two decades have seen a particular focus towards high-frequency neural activity in the gamma band (>30Hz). However, gamma band activity shares frequency range with unwanted artefacts from muscular activity.New MethodWe developed a novel approach to remove muscle artefacts from neurophysiological data. We re-analysed existing EEG data that were decomposed by a blind source separation method (independent component analysis, ICA), which helped to better spatially and temporally separate single muscle spikes. We then applied an adapting algorithm that detects these singled-out muscle spikes.ResultsWe obtained data almost free from muscle artefacts; we needed to remove significantly fewer artefact components from the ICA and we included more trials for the statistical analysis compared to standard ICA artefact removal. All pain-related cortical effects in the gamma band have been preserved, which underlines the high efficacy and precision of this algorithm.ConclusionsOur results show a significant improvement of data quality by preserving task-relevant gamma oscillations of cortical origin. We were able to precisely detect, gauge, and carve out single muscle spikes from the time course of neurophysiological measures. We advocate the application of the tool for studies investigating gamma activity that contain a rather low number of trials, as well as for data that are highly contaminated with muscle artefacts. This validation of our tool allows for the application on event-free continuous EEG, for which the artefact removal is more challenging.

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Carbachol Induces Fast Oscillations in the Medial but not in the Lateral Entorhinal Cortex of the Isolated Guinea Pig Brain

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1999.82.5.2441 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 82 (5) ◽

pp. 2441-2450 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Solange van der Linden ◽

Ferruccio Panzica ◽

Marco de Curtis

Keyword(s):

Guinea Pig ◽

Entorhinal Cortex ◽

Gamma Oscillations ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Medial Entorhinal Cortex ◽

Arterial Perfusion ◽

Fast Oscillations ◽

Guinea Pig Brain

Fast oscillations at 25–80 Hz (gamma activity) have been proposed to play a role in attention-related mechanisms and synaptic plasticity in cortical structures. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the preservation of the entorhinal cortex is necessary to maintain gamma oscillations in the hippocampus. Because gamma activity can be reproduced in vitro by cholinergic activation, this study examined the characteristics of gamma oscillations induced by arterial perfusion or local intracortical injections of carbachol in the entorhinal cortex of the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain preparation. Shortly after carbachol administration, fast oscillatory activity at 25.2–28.2 Hz was observed in the medial but not in the lateral entorhinal cortex. Such activity was transiently associated with oscillations in the theta range that showed a variable pattern of distribution in the entorhinal cortex. No oscillatory activity was observed when carbachol was injected in the lateral entorhinal cortex. Gamma activity in the medial entorhinal cortex showed a phase reversal at 200–400 μm, had maximal amplitude at 400–500 μm depth, and was abolished by arterial perfusion of atropine (5 μM). Local carbachol application in the medial entorhinal cortex induced gamma oscillations in the hippocampus, whereas no oscillations were observed in the amygdala and in the piriform, periamygdaloid, and perirhinal cortices ipsilateral and contralateral to the carbachol injection. Hippocampal oscillations had higher frequency than the gamma activity recorded in the entorhinal cortex, suggesting the presence of independent generators in the two structures. The selective ability of the medial but not the lateral entorhinal cortex to generate gamma activity in response to cholinergic activation suggests a differential mode of signal processing in entorhinal cortex subregions.

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Changes of EEG band oscillations to tonic cold pain and the behavioral inhibition and fight-flight-freeze systems

Personality Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/pen.2019.9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vilfredo De Pascalis ◽

Paolo Scacchia ◽

Beatrice Papi ◽

Philip J. Corr

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Inhibition ◽

Escape Behavior ◽

Behavioral Approach ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Subjective Perception ◽

Beta Activity ◽

Behavioral Inhibition System ◽

Cold Pain ◽

Beta Power ◽

Delta Activity

Abstract Using electroencephalography (EEG) power measures within conventional delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands, the aims of the current study were to highlight cortical correlates of subjective perception of cold pain (CP) and the associations of these measures with behavioral inhibition system (BIS), fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS), and behavioral approach system personality traits. EEG was recorded in 55 healthy right-handed women under (i) a white noise interruption detection condition (Baseline); (ii) enduring CP induced by the cold cup test. CP and Baseline EEG band power scores within conventional frequency bands served for covariance analyses. We found that: (1) higher Pain scorers had higher EEG beta power changes at left frontal, midline central, posterior temporal leads; (2) higher BIS was associated with greater EEG delta activity changes at parietal scalp regions; (3) higher FFFS was associated with higher EEG delta activity changes at temporal and left-parietal regions, and with lower EEG gamma activity changes at right parietal regions. High FFFS, compared to Low FFFS scorers, also showed a lower gamma power across the midline, posterior temporal, and parietal regions. Results suggest a functional role of higher EEG beta activity in the subjective perception of tonic pain. EEG delta activity underpins conflict resolution system responsible for passive avoidance control of pain, while higher EEG delta and lower EEG gamma activity changes, taken together, underpin active avoidance system responsible for pain escape behavior.

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Gamma activity accelerates during prefrontal development

10.1101/2020.03.10.986281 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sebastian H. Bitzenhofer ◽

Jastyn A. Pöpplau ◽

Ileana L. Hanganu-Opatz

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Pyramidal Neurons ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Rhythmic Activity ◽

Gamma Oscillations ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Gamma Frequency ◽

Gamma Rhythms ◽

Fast Oscillations

AbstractGamma oscillations are a prominent activity pattern in the cerebral cortex. While gamma rhythms have been extensively studied in the adult prefrontal cortex in the context of cognitive (dys)functions, little is known about their development. We addressed this issue by using extracellular recordings and optogenetic stimulations in mice across postnatal development. We show that fast rhythmic activity in the prefrontal cortex becomes prominent during the second postnatal week. While initially at about 15 Hz, fast oscillatory activity progressively accelerates with age and stabilizes within gamma frequency range (30-80 Hz) during the fourth postnatal week. Activation of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons drives fast oscillations throughout development, yet the acceleration of their frequency follows similar temporal dynamics as the maturation of fast-spiking interneurons. These findings uncover the development of prefrontal gamma activity and provide a framework to examine the origin of abnormal gamma activity in neurodevelopmental disorders.

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Brain–Heart Interaction During Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnins.2021.632697 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Kathrin Machetanz ◽

Levan Berelidze ◽

Robert Guggenberger ◽

Alireza Gharabaghi

Keyword(s):

Vagus Nerve ◽

Nerve Stimulation ◽

Vagus Nerve Stimulation ◽

Heart Function ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Gamma Band ◽

Cortical Activation ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Beta Band ◽

Rr Intervals

ObjectivesTranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) modulates brain activity and heart function. The induced parasympathetic predominance leads to an increase of heart rate variability (HRV). Knowledge on the corresponding cortical activation pattern is, however, scarce. We hypothesized taVNS-induced HRV increases to be related to modulation of cortical activity that regulates the autonomic outflow to the heart.Materials and MethodsIn thirteen healthy subjects, we simultaneously recorded 64-channel electroencephalography and electrocardiography during taVNS. Two taVNS stimulation targets were investigated, i.e., the cymba conchae and inner tragus, and compared to active control stimulation in the anatomical vicinity, i.e., at the crus helicis and outer tragus. We used intermitted stimulation bursts of 25 Hz applied at a periodicity of 1 Hz. HRV was estimated with different time-domain methodologies: standard deviation of RR (SDNN), the root mean squares of successive differences (RMSSD), the percentage of RR-intervals with at least 50 ms deviation from the preceding RR-interval (pNN50), and the difference of consecutive RR intervals weighted by their mean (rrHRV).ResultsThe stimulation-induced HRV increases corresponded to frequency-specific oscillatory modulation of different cortical areas. All stimulation targets induced power modulations that were proportional to the HRV elevation. The most prominent changes that corresponded to HRV increases across all parameters and stimulation locations were frontal elevations in the theta-band. In the delta-band, there were frontal increases (RMSSD, pNN50, rrHRV, SDNN) and decreases (SDNN) across stimulation sites. In higher frequencies, there was a more divers activity pattern: Outer tragus/crus helicis stimulation increased oscillatory activity with the most prominent changes for the SDNN in frontal (alpha-band, beta-band) and fronto-parietal (gamma-band) areas. During inner tragus/cymba conchae stimulation the predominant pattern was a distributed power decrease, particularly in the fronto-parietal gamma-band.ConclusionNeuro–cardiac interactions can be modulated by electrical stimulation at different auricular locations. Increased HRV during stimulation is correlated with frequency-specific increases and decreases of oscillatory activity in different brain areas. When applying specific HRV measures, cortical patterns related to parasympathetic (RMSSD, pNN50, rrHRV) and sympathetic (SDNN) modulation can be identified. Thus, cortical oscillations may be used to define stimulation locations and parameters for research and therapeutic purposes.

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Pallidal Thermolesion Unleashes Gamma Oscillations in the Motor Cortex in Parkinson's Disease

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1093/neuros/nyz310_692 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 66 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Doris D Wang ◽

Coralie de Hemptinne ◽

Svjetlana Miocinovic ◽

Witney Chen ◽

Jill L Ostrem ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Essential Tremor ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Gamma Oscillations ◽

Gamma Band ◽

Motor Dysfunction ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Motor Network

Abstract INTRODUCTION In Parkinson's disease, the emergence of motor dysfunction is thought to be related to an imbalance between antikinetic and prokinetic patterns of oscillatory activity in the motor network. Invasive recordings from the basal ganglia and cortex in surgical patients have suggested that levodopa and therapeutic deep brain stimulation can suppress antikinetic beta band (13-30 Hz) rhythms while promoting prokinetic gamma band (60-90 Hz) rhythms. Surgical ablation of the globus pallidus internus is one of the oldest effective therapies for Parkinson's disease and gives a remarkable immediate relief from rigidity and bradykinesia, but its effects on oscillatory activity in the motor network have not been studied. We characterize the effects of pallidotomy on cortical oscillatory activity in Parkinson's disease patients. METHODS Using a temporary 6-contact lead placed over the sensorimotor cortex in the subdural space, we recorded acute changes in cortical oscillatory activities in 3 Parkinson's disease patients undergoing pallidotomy and compared the results to that of 3 essential tremor patients undergoing thalamotomy. RESULTS In all 3 Parkinson's disease patients, we observed the emergence of an approximately 70 to 80 Hz narrow-band oscillation with effective thermolesion of the pallidum. This gamma oscillatory activity was spatially localized over the primary motor cortex, was minimally affected by voluntary movements, and was not found in the motor cortex of essential tremor patients undergoing thalamotomy. CONCLUSION Our finding suggests that acute lesioning of the pallidum promotes cortical gamma band oscillations. This may represent an important mechanism for alleviating bradykinesia in Parkinson's disease.

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Beta Oscillatory Activity in the Subthalamic Nucleus and Its Relation to Dopaminergic Response in Parkinson's Disease

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00697.2006 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 96 (6) ◽

pp. 3248-3256 ◽

Cited By ~ 331

Author(s):

Moran Weinberger ◽

Neil Mahant ◽

William D. Hutchison ◽

Andres M. Lozano ◽

Elena Moro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Subthalamic Nucleus ◽

Field Potential ◽

Neuronal Population ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Motor Deficits ◽

Beta Activity ◽

Beta Power ◽

Dorsal Portion

Recent studies suggest that beta (15–30 Hz) oscillatory activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is dramatically increased in Parkinson's disease (PD) and may interfere with movement execution. Dopaminergic medications decrease beta activity and deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the STN may alleviate PD symptoms by disrupting this oscillatory activity. Depth recordings from PD patients have demonstrated beta oscillatory neuronal and local field potential (LFP) activity in STN, although its prevalence and relationship to neuronal activity are unclear. In this study, we recorded both LFP and neuronal spike activity from the STN in 14 PD patients during functional neurosurgery. Of 200 single- and multiunit recordings 56 showed significant oscillatory activity at about 26 Hz and 89% of these were coherent with the simultaneously recorded LFP. The incidence of neuronal beta oscillatory activity was significantly higher in the dorsal STN ( P = 0.01) and corresponds to the significantly increased LFP beta power recorded in the same region. Of particular interest was a significant positive correlation between the incidence of oscillatory neurons and the patient's benefit from dopaminergic medications, but not with baseline motor deficits off medication. These findings suggest that the degree of neuronal beta oscillatory activity is related to the magnitude of the response of the basal ganglia to dopaminergic agents rather than directly to the motor symptoms of PD. The study also suggests that LFP beta oscillatory activity is generated largely within the dorsal portion of the STN and can produce synchronous oscillatory activity of the local neuronal population.

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Combining Gamma With Alpha and Beta Power Modulation for Enhanced Cortical Mapping in Patients With Focal Epilepsy

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2020.555054 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

Author(s):

Mario E. Archila-Meléndez ◽

Giancarlo Valente ◽

Erik D. Gommer ◽

João M. Correia ◽

Sanne ten Oever ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Focal Epilepsy ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Cognitive Testing ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Cortical Mapping ◽

Beta Activity ◽

Diagnostic Ability ◽

Power Modulation ◽

Eloquent Areas ◽

Beta Power

About one third of patients with epilepsy have seizures refractory to the medical treatment. Electrical stimulation mapping (ESM) is the gold standard for the identification of “eloquent” areas prior to resection of epileptogenic tissue. However, it is time-consuming and may cause undesired side effects. Broadband gamma activity (55–200 Hz) recorded with extraoperative electrocorticography (ECoG) during cognitive tasks may be an alternative to ESM but until now has not proven of definitive clinical value. Considering their role in cognition, the alpha (8–12 Hz) and beta (15–25 Hz) bands could further improve the identification of eloquent cortex. We compared gamma, alpha and beta activity, and their combinations for the identification of eloquent cortical areas defined by ESM. Ten patients with intractable focal epilepsy (age: 35.9 ± 9.1 years, range: 22–48, 8 females, 9 right handed) participated in a delayed-match-to-sample task, where syllable sounds were compared to visually presented letters. We used a generalized linear model (GLM) approach to find the optimal weighting of each band for predicting ESM-defined categories and estimated the diagnostic ability by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Gamma activity increased more in eloquent than in non-eloquent areas, whereas alpha and beta power decreased more in eloquent areas. Diagnostic ability of each band was close to 0.7 for all bands but depended on multiple factors including the time period of the cognitive task, the location of the electrodes and the patient’s degree of attention to the stimulus. We show that diagnostic ability can be increased by 3–5% by combining gamma and alpha and by 7.5–11% when gamma and beta were combined. We then show how ECoG power modulation from cognitive testing can be used to map the probability of eloquence in individual patients and how this probability map can be used in clinical settings to optimize ESM planning. We conclude that the combination of gamma and beta power modulation during cognitive testing can contribute to the identification of eloquent areas prior to ESM in patients with refractory focal epilepsy.

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Intracranial Recordings and Computational Modeling of Music Reveal the Time Course of Prediction Error Signaling in Frontal and Temporal Cortices

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01388 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 855-873 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Diana Omigie ◽

Marcus Pearce ◽

Katia Lehongre ◽

Dominique Hasboun ◽

Vincent Navarro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prediction Error ◽

Time Course ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Predictive Processing ◽

Gamma Activity ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽

Beta Power

Prediction is held to be a fundamental process underpinning perception, action, and cognition. To examine the time course of prediction error signaling, we recorded intracranial EEG activity from nine presurgical epileptic patients while they listened to melodies whose information theoretical predictability had been characterized using a computational model. We examined oscillatory activity in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and the pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus, lateral cortical areas previously implicated in auditory predictive processing. We also examined activity in anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG), insula, and amygdala to determine whether signatures of prediction error signaling may also be observable in these subcortical areas. Our results demonstrate that the information content (a measure of unexpectedness) of musical notes modulates the amplitude of low-frequency oscillatory activity (theta to beta power) in bilateral STG and right MTG from within 100 and 200 msec of note onset, respectively. Our results also show this cortical activity to be accompanied by low-frequency oscillatory modulation in ACG and insula—areas previously associated with mediating physiological arousal. Finally, we showed that modulation of low-frequency activity is followed by that of high-frequency (gamma) power from approximately 200 msec in the STG, between 300 and 400 msec in the left insula, and between 400 and 500 msec in the ACG. We discuss these results with respect to models of neural processing that emphasize gamma activity as an index of prediction error signaling and highlight the usefulness of musical stimuli in revealing the wide-reaching neural consequences of predictive processing.

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Beta band oscillations in motor cortex reflect neural population signals that delay movement onset

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.24573 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

Preeya Khanna ◽

Jose M Carmena

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Oscillatory Activity ◽

Neural Population ◽

Beta Band ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Movement Onset ◽

Beta Oscillations ◽

Beta Power ◽

Oscillatory Power

Motor cortical beta oscillations have been reported for decades, yet their behavioral correlates remain unresolved. Some studies link beta oscillations to changes in underlying neural activity, but the specific behavioral manifestations of these reported changes remain elusive. To investigate how changes in population neural activity, beta oscillations, and behavior are linked, we recorded multi-scale neural activity from motor cortex while three macaques performed a novel neurofeedback task. Subjects volitionally brought their beta oscillatory power to an instructed state and subsequently executed an arm reach. Reaches preceded by a reduction in beta power exhibited significantly faster movement onset times than reaches preceded by an increase in beta power. Further, population neural activity was found to shift farther from a movement onset state during beta oscillations that were neurofeedback-induced or naturally occurring during reaching tasks. This finding establishes a population neural basis for slowed movement onset following periods of beta oscillatory activity.

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