1. Neuroscience

Cross-frequency synchronization connects networks of fast and slow oscillations during visual working memory maintenance

  1. Felix Siebenhühner
  2. Sheng H Wang
  3. J Matias Palva
  4. Satu Palva  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Helsinki, Finland
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13451
Share this article
Cite this article
  1. Felix Siebenhühner
  2. Sheng H Wang
  3. J Matias Palva
  4. Satu Palva
(2016)
Cross-frequency synchronization connects networks of fast and slow oscillations during visual working memory maintenance
eLife 5:e13451.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13451
  2. Download BibTeX
  3. Download .RIS

Abstract

Neuronal activity in sensory and fronto-parietal (FP) areas underlies the representation and attentional control, respectively, of sensory information maintained in visual working memory (VWM). Within these regions, beta/gamma phase-synchronization supports the integration of sensory functions, while synchronization in theta/alpha bands supports the regulation of attentional functions. A key challenge is to understand which mechanisms integrate neuronal processing across these distinct frequencies and thereby the sensory and attentional functions. We investigated whether such integration could be achieved by cross-frequency phase synchrony (CFS). Using concurrent magneto- and electroencephalography, we found that CFS was load-dependently enhanced between theta and alpha-gamma and between alpha and beta/gamma oscillations during VWM maintenance among visual, FP, and dorsal attention (DA) systems. CFS also connected the hubs of within-frequency-synchronized networks and its strength predicted individual VWM capacity. We propose that CFS integrates processing among synchronized neuronal networks from theta to gamma frequencies to link sensory and attentional functions.

Data availability

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Felix Siebenhühner

    Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Sheng H Wang

    Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. J Matias Palva

    Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Satu Palva

    Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
    For correspondence
    satu.palva@helsinki.fi
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-9496-7391

Funding

Suomen Akatemia (SA1126927, SA266402,)

  • Satu Palva

Helsinki University Research Grants (788/51/2010)

  • Satu Palva

Brain and Mind doctoral program

  • Felix Siebenhühner

Suomen Akatemia (SA253130, SA281414, SA256472)

  • J Matias Palva

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Human subjects: This study was approved by the ethical committee of Helsinki University Central hospital and was performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to the experiment.

Copyright

© 2016, Siebenhühner et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 3,200
    views
  • 827
    downloads
  • 85
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Felix Siebenhühner
  2. Sheng H Wang
  3. J Matias Palva
  4. Satu Palva
(2016)
Cross-frequency synchronization connects networks of fast and slow oscillations during visual working memory maintenance
eLife 5:e13451.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13451

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13451

Categories and tags

Research organism

Further reading

    1. Neuroscience

    Parabrachial CGRP neurons modulate active defensive behavior under a naturalistic threat

    Gyeong Hee Pyeon, Hyewon Cho ... Yong Sang Jo
    Research Article Updated

    Recent studies suggest that calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) neurons in the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) represent aversive information and signal a general alarm to the forebrain. If CGRP neurons serve as a true general alarm, their activation would modulate both passive nad active defensive behaviors depending on the magnitude and context of the threat. However, most prior research has focused on the role of CGRP neurons in passive freezing responses, with limited exploration of their involvement in active defensive behaviors. To address this, we examined the role of CGRP neurons in active defensive behavior using a predator-like robot programmed to chase mice. Our electrophysiological results revealed that CGRP neurons encode the intensity of aversive stimuli through variations in firing durations and amplitudes. Optogenetic activation of CGRP neurons during robot chasing elevated flight responses in both conditioning and retention tests, presumably by amplifying the perception of the threat as more imminent and dangerous. In contrast, animals with inactivated CGRP neurons exhibited reduced flight responses, even when the robot was programmed to appear highly threatening during conditioning. These findings expand the understanding of CGRP neurons in the PBN as a critical alarm system, capable of dynamically regulating active defensive behaviors by amplifying threat perception, and ensuring adaptive responses to varying levels of danger.

    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Vision: The inner workings of a miniature eye

    Gregor Belušič
    Insight

    The first complete 3D reconstruction of the compound eye of a minute wasp species sheds light on the nuts and bolts of size reduction.

    1. Neuroscience

    Disruption of the CRF1 receptor eliminates morphine-induced sociability deficits and firing of oxytocinergic neurons in male mice

    Alessandro Piccin, Anne-Emilie Allain ... Angelo Contarino
    Research Article

    Substance-induced social behavior deficits dramatically worsen the clinical outcome of substance use disorders; yet, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Herein, we investigated the role for the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF1) in the acute sociability deficits induced by morphine and the related activity of oxytocin (OXY)- and arginine-vasopressin (AVP)-expressing neurons of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). For this purpose, we used both the CRF1 receptor-preferring antagonist compound antalarmin and the genetic mouse model of CRF1 receptor-deficiency. Antalarmin completely abolished sociability deficits induced by morphine in male, but not in female, C57BL/6J mice. Accordingly, genetic CRF1 receptor-deficiency eliminated morphine-induced sociability deficits in male mice. Ex vivo electrophysiology studies showed that antalarmin also eliminated morphine-induced firing of PVN neurons in male, but not in female, C57BL/6J mice. Likewise, genetic CRF1 receptor-deficiency reduced morphine-induced firing of PVN neurons in a CRF1 gene expression-dependent manner. The electrophysiology results consistently mirrored the behavioral results, indicating a link between morphine-induced PVN activity and sociability deficits. Interestingly, in male mice antalarmin abolished morphine-induced firing in neurons co-expressing OXY and AVP, but not in neurons expressing only AVP. In contrast, in female mice antalarmin did not affect morphine-induced firing of neurons co-expressing OXY and AVP or only OXY, indicating a selective sex-specific role for the CRF1 receptor in opiate-induced PVN OXY activity. The present findings demonstrate a major, sex-linked, role for the CRF1 receptor in sociability deficits and related brain alterations induced by morphine, suggesting new therapeutic strategy for opiate use disorders.