A causal role for the precuneus in network-wide theta and gamma oscillatory activity during complex memory retrieval

  1. Melissa Hebscher  Is a corresponding author
  2. Jed A Meltzer
  3. Asaf Gilboa  Is a corresponding author
  1. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, United States
  2. Rotman Research Institute, Canada

Abstract

Complex memory of personal events is thought to depend on coordinated reinstatement of cortical representations by the medial temporal lobes (MTL). MTL-cortical theta and gamma coupling is believed to mediate such coordination, but which cortical structures are critical for retrieval and how they influence oscillatory coupling is unclear. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) combined with continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to (i) clarify the roles of theta and gamma oscillations in network-wide communication during naturalistic memory retrieval, and (ii) understand the causal relationship between cortical network nodes and oscillatory communication. Retrieval was associated with MTL-posterior neocortical theta phase coupling and theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling relative to a rest period. Precuneus cTBS altered MTL-neocortical communication by modulating theta and gamma oscillatory coupling. These findings provide a mechanistic account for MTL-cortical communication and demonstrate that the precuneus is a critical cortical node of oscillatory activity, coordinating cross-regional interactions that drive remembering.

Data availability

All data generated during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for Figures 2, 3C, and 4C.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Melissa Hebscher

    Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, United States
    For correspondence
    melhebscher@gmail.com
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1863-5464
  2. Jed A Meltzer

    Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Asaf Gilboa

    Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
    For correspondence
    agilboa@research.baycrest.org
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant 378291)

  • Asaf Gilboa

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Postgraduate Scholarship- Doctoral)

  • Melissa Hebscher

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

Ethics

Human subjects: The study was approved by the Rotman Research Institute/Baycrest Hospital ethics committee (REB #16-33). All participants provided informed consent prior to participating in the experiment.

Copyright

© 2019, Hebscher 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

  • 3,497
    views
  • 436
    downloads
  • 63
    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. Melissa Hebscher
  2. Jed A Meltzer
  3. Asaf Gilboa
(2019)
A causal role for the precuneus in network-wide theta and gamma oscillatory activity during complex memory retrieval
eLife 8:e43114.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43114

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43114

Further reading

    1. Neuroscience
    Simonas Griesius, Amy Richardson, Dimitri Michael Kullmann
    Research Article

    Non-linear summation of synaptic inputs to the dendrites of pyramidal neurons has been proposed to increase the computation capacity of neurons through coincidence detection, signal amplification, and additional logic operations such as XOR. Supralinear dendritic integration has been documented extensively in principal neurons, mediated by several voltage-dependent conductances. It has also been reported in parvalbumin-positive hippocampal basket cells, in dendrites innervated by feedback excitatory synapses. Whether other interneurons, which support feed-forward or feedback inhibition of principal neuron dendrites, also exhibit local non-linear integration of synaptic excitation is not known. Here, we use patch-clamp electrophysiology, and two-photon calcium imaging and glutamate uncaging, to show that supralinear dendritic integration of near-synchronous spatially clustered glutamate-receptor mediated depolarization occurs in NDNF-positive neurogliaform cells and oriens-lacunosum moleculare interneurons in the mouse hippocampus. Supralinear summation was detected via recordings of somatic depolarizations elicited by uncaging of glutamate on dendritic fragments, and, in neurogliaform cells, by concurrent imaging of dendritic calcium transients. Supralinearity was abolished by blocking NMDA receptors (NMDARs) but resisted blockade of voltage-gated sodium channels. Blocking L-type calcium channels abolished supralinear calcium signalling but only had a minor effect on voltage supralinearity. Dendritic boosting of spatially clustered synaptic signals argues for previously unappreciated computational complexity in dendrite-projecting inhibitory cells of the hippocampus.

    1. Neuroscience
    Jessica Royer, Valeria Kebets ... Boris C Bernhardt
    Research Article Updated

    Complex structural and functional changes occurring in typical and atypical development necessitate multidimensional approaches to better understand the risk of developing psychopathology. Here, we simultaneously examined structural and functional brain network patterns in relation to dimensions of psychopathology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) dataset. Several components were identified, recapitulating the psychopathology hierarchy, with the general psychopathology (p) factor explaining most covariance with multimodal imaging features, while the internalizing, externalizing, and neurodevelopmental dimensions were each associated with distinct morphological and functional connectivity signatures. Connectivity signatures associated with the p factor and neurodevelopmental dimensions followed the sensory-to-transmodal axis of cortical organization, which is related to the emergence of complex cognition and risk for psychopathology. Results were consistent in two separate data subsamples and robust to variations in analytical parameters. Although model parameters yielded statistically significant brain–behavior associations in unseen data, generalizability of the model was rather limited for all three latent components (r change from within- to out-of-sample statistics: LC1within = 0.36, LC1out = 0.03; LC2within = 0.34, LC2out = 0.05; LC3within = 0.35, LC3out = 0.07). Our findings help in better understanding biological mechanisms underpinning dimensions of psychopathology, and could provide brain-based vulnerability markers.