Stimulus selectivity and spatial coherence of gamma components of the local field potential

Xiaoxuan Jia, Matthew A. Smith, Adam Kohn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

116 Scopus citations

Abstract

The gamma frequencies of the local field potential (LFP) provide a physiological correlate for numerous perceptual and cognitive phenomena and have been proposed to play a role in cortical function. Understanding the spatial extent of gamma and its relationship to spiking activity is critical for interpreting this signal and elucidating its function, but previous studies have provided widely disparate views of these properties. We addressed these issues by simultaneously recording LFPs and spiking activity using microelectrode arrays implanted in the primary visual cortex of macaque monkeys. We find that the spatial extent of gammaand its relationship to local spiking activity is stimulus dependent. Small gratings, and those masked with noise, induce a broadband increase in spectral power. This signal is tuned similarly to spiking activity and has limited spatial coherence. Large gratings, however, induce agammarhythm characterized by a distinctive spectral "bump," which is coherent across widely separated sites. This signal is well tuned, but its stimulus preference is similar across millimeters of cortex. The preference of this global gamma rhythm is sensitive to adaptation, in a manner consistent with its magnifying a bias in the neuronal representation of visual stimuli. Gamma thus arises from two sources that reflect different spatial scales of neural ensemble activity. Our results show that there is not a single, fixed ensemble contributing to gamma and that the selectivity of gamma cannot be used to infer its spatial extent.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9390-9403
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume31
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 22 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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