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Velocity of waves in large-scale cortex is proportional to temporal frequency

David M. Alexander1*
  • 1 University of Leuven, Belgium

Scalp-recorded and intra-cranial cortical activity reveals globally coherent patterns of phase that are in motion (Alexander et al., 2006, 2013). These waves arise over a range of spatial and temporal scales, from sub-millimetre to decimetre and slow-wave to beta (Ito et al., 2007; Massimini et al., 2004; Nauhaus et al., 2009; Takahashi et al., 2011). The wave activity in large-scale cortex varies systematically with task and/or cognitive state (Alexander et al., 2009; Ito et al., 2007; Massimini et al., 2004; Nauhaus et al., 2009; Sauseng et al., 2002). When analysed at single-trial level, whole head MEG (Zvyagintsev et al., 2008) and EEG (Nikolaev et al., 2008) shows episodes of globally coherent activity in the delta, theta, alpha and beta bands in the form of large-scale waves, which propagate with a variety of velocities. Their mean speed is in the range 0.06 to 4.0 m/s, and was proportional to temporal frequency. These estimates take into account a range of wave behaviours, including traveling waves and standing waves. The location of the maxima and minima in field strength moved over the entire sensor array, during both ongoing activity and task-relevant intervals. This is evidence against other explanations for the observed effects, such as motion of localized dipoles, or a direct relationship of the dynamics to connection delays. We propose a critical test for these competing hypotheses, involving the simultaneous measurement of wave velocities in the MEG and EEG.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by an Odysseus grant from the Flemish Organization for Science, FWO.

References

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Keywords: MEG, EEG Oscillations, traveling waves, velocity, temporal frequency

Conference: Second Belgian Neuroinformatics Congress, Leuven, Belgium, 4 Dec - 4 Dec, 2015.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Brain Imaging

Citation: Alexander DM (2015). Velocity of waves in large-scale cortex is proportional to temporal frequency. Front. Neuroinform. Conference Abstract: Second Belgian Neuroinformatics Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.fninf.2015.19.00031

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Received: 13 Nov 2015; Published Online: 17 Nov 2015.

* Correspondence: Dr. David M Alexander, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, david.murray.alexander@gmail.com