Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information
Massed synchronised neuronal firing is detrimental to information processing. When networks of task-irrelevant neurons fire in unison, they mask the signal generated by task-critical neurons. On a macroscopic level, such synchronisation can contribute to alpha/beta (8–30 Hz) oscillations. Reducing t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2019-11-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/49562 |
| _version_ | 1811252980509310976 |
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| author | Benjamin James Griffiths Stephen D Mayhew Karen J Mullinger João Jorge Ian Charest Maria Wimber Simon Hanslmayr |
| author_facet | Benjamin James Griffiths Stephen D Mayhew Karen J Mullinger João Jorge Ian Charest Maria Wimber Simon Hanslmayr |
| author_sort | Benjamin James Griffiths |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Massed synchronised neuronal firing is detrimental to information processing. When networks of task-irrelevant neurons fire in unison, they mask the signal generated by task-critical neurons. On a macroscopic level, such synchronisation can contribute to alpha/beta (8–30 Hz) oscillations. Reducing the amplitude of these oscillations, therefore, may enhance information processing. Here, we test this hypothesis. Twenty-one participants completed an associative memory task while undergoing simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings. Using representational similarity analysis, we quantified the amount of stimulus-specific information represented within the BOLD signal on every trial. When correlating this metric with concurrently-recorded alpha/beta power, we found a significant negative correlation which indicated that as post-stimulus alpha/beta power decreased, stimulus-specific information increased. Critically, we found this effect in three unique tasks: visual perception, auditory perception, and visual memory retrieval, indicating that this phenomenon transcends both stimulus modality and cognitive task. These results indicate that alpha/beta power decreases parametrically track the fidelity of both externally-presented and internally-generated stimulus-specific information represented within the cortex. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:42:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-08150f2ae84e47a38aeb328a2fbc9c02 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:42:53Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-08150f2ae84e47a38aeb328a2fbc9c022022-12-22T03:24:41ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2019-11-01810.7554/eLife.49562Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific informationBenjamin James Griffiths0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8600-4480Stephen D Mayhew1Karen J Mullinger2João Jorge3Ian Charest4Maria Wimber5Simon Hanslmayr6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4448-2147School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United KingdomSchool of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United KingdomSchool of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United KingdomLaboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandSchool of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United KingdomSchool of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United KingdomSchool of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United KingdomMassed synchronised neuronal firing is detrimental to information processing. When networks of task-irrelevant neurons fire in unison, they mask the signal generated by task-critical neurons. On a macroscopic level, such synchronisation can contribute to alpha/beta (8–30 Hz) oscillations. Reducing the amplitude of these oscillations, therefore, may enhance information processing. Here, we test this hypothesis. Twenty-one participants completed an associative memory task while undergoing simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings. Using representational similarity analysis, we quantified the amount of stimulus-specific information represented within the BOLD signal on every trial. When correlating this metric with concurrently-recorded alpha/beta power, we found a significant negative correlation which indicated that as post-stimulus alpha/beta power decreased, stimulus-specific information increased. Critically, we found this effect in three unique tasks: visual perception, auditory perception, and visual memory retrieval, indicating that this phenomenon transcends both stimulus modality and cognitive task. These results indicate that alpha/beta power decreases parametrically track the fidelity of both externally-presented and internally-generated stimulus-specific information represented within the cortex.https://elifesciences.org/articles/49562neural oscillationsEEGfMRIepisodic memoryperception |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin James Griffiths Stephen D Mayhew Karen J Mullinger João Jorge Ian Charest Maria Wimber Simon Hanslmayr Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information eLife neural oscillations EEG fMRI episodic memory perception |
| title | Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information |
| title_full | Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information |
| title_fullStr | Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information |
| title_short | Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information |
| title_sort | alpha beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus specific information |
| topic | neural oscillations EEG fMRI episodic memory perception |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/49562 |
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