Temporal coding organized by coupled alpha and gamma oscillations prioritize visual processing

Ole Jensen, Bart Gips, Til Ole Bergmann, Mathilde Bonnefond

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

213 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sensory systems must rely on powerful mechanisms for organizing complex information. We propose a framework in which inhibitory alpha oscillations limit and prioritize neuronal processing. At oscillatory peaks, inhibition prevents neuronal firing. As the inhibition ramps down within a cycle, a set of neuronal representations will activate sequentially according to their respective excitability. Both top-down and bottom-up drives determine excitability; in particular, spatial attention is a major top-down influence. On a shorter time scale, fast recurrent inhibition segments representations in slots 10–30 ms apart, generating gamma-band activity at the population level. The proposed mechanism serves to convert spatially distributed representations in early visual regions to a temporal phase code: that is, ‘to-do lists’ that can be processed sequentially by downstream regions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)357-369
Number of pages13
JournalTrends in Neurosciences
Volume37
Issue number7
Early online date14 May 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2014

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