Citation

Hoogenboom N, Schoffelen JM, Oostenveld R, Fries P. Neuroimage 2010; 51(3): 1162-1167.

Affiliation

Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, G12 8QB Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.03.041

PMID

20307670

Abstract

Groups of activated neurons typically synchronize in the gamma-frequency band (30-100Hz), and gamma-band synchronization has been implicated in numerous cognitive functions. Those functions are ultimately expressed as behavior and therefore, functional gamma-band synchronization should be directly related to behavior. We recorded the magnetoencephalogram in human subjects and used a visual stimulus to induce occipital gamma-band activity. We found that the strength of this gamma-band activity at a given moment predicted the speed with which the subject was able to report a change in the stimulus. This predictive effect was restricted in time, frequency and space: It started only around 200ms before the behaviorally relevant stimulus change, was present only between 50 and 80Hz, and was significant only in bilateral middle occipital gyrus, while the peak of overall visually induced gamma-band activity was found in the calcarine sulcus. These results suggest that visually induced gamma-band activity is functionally relevant for the efficient transmission of stimulus change information to brain regions issuing the corresponding motor response.

Language: en