scholarly journals Paleo-oscillomics: inferring aspects of Neanderthal language abilities from gene regulation of neural oscillations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliot Murphy ◽  
Antonio Benítez-Burraco

AbstractLanguage seemingly evolved from changes in brain anatomy and wiring. We argue that language evolution can be better understood if particular changes in phasal and cross-frequency coupling properties of neural oscillations, resulting in core features of language, are considered. Because we cannot track the oscillatory activity of the brain from extinct hominins, we used our current understanding of the language oscillogenome (that is, the set of genes responsible for basic aspects of the oscillatory activity relevant for language) to infer some properties of the Neanderthal oscillome. We have found that several candidates for the language oscillogenome show differences in their methylation patterns between Neanderthals and humans. We argue that differences in their expression levels could be informative of differences in cognitive functions important for language.

Author(s):  
Jon López-Azcárate ◽  
María Jesús Nicolás ◽  
Ivan Cordon ◽  
Manuel Alegre ◽  
Miguel Valencia ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 143-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena J.V. Rutherford ◽  
Xiaoyue M. Guo ◽  
Jia Wu ◽  
Kelsey M. Graber ◽  
Nathan J. Hayes ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojtaba Lahijanian ◽  
Hamid Aghajan ◽  
Zahra Vahabi ◽  
Arshia Afzal

AbstractNon-invasive gamma entrainment has shown promising results in alleviating cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in mice and humans. In this study, we examine improvements in the synchronization characteristics of the brain’s oscillations induced by 40Hz auditory stimulation based on electroencephalography data recorded from a group of dementia patients. We observed that when the quality of entrainment surpasses a certain level, several indicators of brain synchronization significantly improve. Specifically, the entrained oscillatory activity maintains temporal phase stability in the frontal, parietal, and occipital regions, and persistent spatial phase coupling between them. In addition, notable theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling is observed in these areas. Interestingly, a high theta power at rest predicts the quality of entrainment. We identify differentiating attributes of temporal/spatial synchronization and cross-frequency coupling in the data of two groups with entrained and non-entrained responses which point to enhanced network synchronization caused by entrainment and can explain its potential therapeutic effects.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matías Cavelli ◽  
Santiago Castro-Zaballa ◽  
Joaquín Gonzalez ◽  
Daniel Rojas-Líbano ◽  
Nicolas Rubido ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent studies have shown that slow cortical potentials in archi-, paleo- and neocortex, can phase-lock with nasal respiration. In some of these areas, gamma activity (γ: 30-100 Hz) is also coupled to the animal’s respiration. It has been hypothesized that this interaction plays a role in coordinating distributed neural activity. In a similar way, inter-cortical interactions at γ frequency has been also associated as a binding mechanism by which the brain generates temporary opportunities necessary for implementing cognitive functions. The aim of the present study is to explore if nasal respiration entrains inter-cortical interactions at γ frequency.Six adult cats chronically prepared for electrographic recordings were employed in this study. Our results show that slow cortical respiratory potentials are present in several areas of the neocortex and olfactory bulb during wakefulness. Also, we found cross-frequency coupling between the respiratory phase and the amplitude of γ activity in all recorded areas. These oscillatory entrainments are independent of muscular activity, because are maintained during cataplexy induced by carbachol microinjection into the nucleus pontis oralis. Importantly, we observed that respiratory phase modulates the inter-cortical gamma coherence between neocortical pairs of electrodes during wakefulness. However, during NREM and REM sleep, breathing was unable to entrain the oscillatory activity, neither in the olfactory bulb nor in the neocortex. These results suggest a single unified phenomenon involving cross frequency coupling and long-range γ coherence across the neocortex. This fact could be related to a temporal binding process necessary for cognitive functions during wakefulness.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Kim ◽  
Ulrich Egert ◽  
Arvind Kumar

A network consisting of excitatory and inhibitory (EI) neurons is a canonical model for understanding cortical network activity. In this study, we extend the EI network model and investigate how its dynamical landscape can be enriched when it interacts with another excitatory (E) population with transmission delays. Through analysis and simulations of a rate model and a spiking network model, we study the transition from stationary to oscillatory states by analyzing the Hopf bifurcation structure in terms of two network parameters: 1) transmission delay between the EI subnetwork and the E population and 2) inhibitory couplings that induce oscillatory activity in the EI subnetwork. We find that the critical coupling strength can strongly modulate as a function of transmission delay, and consequently the stationary state is interwoven intricately with oscillatory states generating different frequency modes. This leads to the emergence of an isolated stationary state surrounded by multiple oscillatory states and cross-frequency coupling develops at the bifurcation points. We identify the possible network motifs that induce oscillations and examine how multiple oscillatory states come together to enrich the dynamical landscape.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Rodriguez-Larios ◽  
Pascal Faber ◽  
Peter Achermann ◽  
Shisei Tei ◽  
Kaat Alaerts

AbstractNeural activity is known to oscillate within discrete frequency bands and the synchronization between these rhythms is hypothesized to underlie information integration in the brain. Since strict synchronization is only possible for harmonic frequencies, a recent theory proposes that the interaction between different brain rhythms is facilitated by transient harmonic frequency arrangements. In this line, it has been recently shown that the transient occurrence of 2:1 harmonic cross-frequency relationships between alpha and theta rhythms (i.e. falpha≈12 Hz; ftheta≈6 Hz) is enhanced during effortful cognition. In this study, we tested whether achieving a state of ‘mental emptiness’ during meditation is accompanied by a relative decrease in the occurrence of 2:1 harmonic cross-frequency relationships between alpha and theta rhythms. Continuous EEG recordings (19 electrodes) were obtained from 43 highly experienced meditators during meditation practice, rest and an arithmetic task. We show that the occurrence of transient alpha:theta 2:1 harmonic relationships increased linearly from a meditative to an active cognitive processing state (i.e. meditation< rest< arithmetic task). It is argued that transient EEG cross-frequency arrangements that prevent alpha:theta cross-frequency coupling could facilitate the experience of ‘mental emptiness’ by avoiding the interaction between the memory and executive components of cognition.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ceni ◽  
Simona Olmi ◽  
Alessandro Torcini ◽  
David Angulo-Garcia

Coupling among neural rhythms is one of the most important mechanisms at the basis of cognitive processes in the brain. In this study we consider a neural mass model, rigorously obtained from the microscopic dynamics of an inhibitory spiking network with exponential synapses, able to autonomously generate collective oscillations (COs). These oscillations emerge via a super-critical Hopf bifurcation, and their frequencies are controlled by the synaptic time scale, the synaptic coupling and the excitability of the neural population. Furthermore, we show that two inhibitory populations in a master-slave configuration with different synaptic time scales can display various collective dynamical regimes: namely, damped oscillations towards a stable focus, periodic and quasi-periodic oscillations, and chaos. Finally, when bidirectionally coupled the two inhibitory populations can exhibit different types of θ-γ cross-frequency couplings (CFCs): namely, phase-phase and phase-amplitude CFC. The coupling between θ and γ COs is enhanced in presence of a external θ forcing, reminiscent of the type of modulation induced in Hippocampal and Cortex circuits via optogenetic drive.In healthy conditions, the brain’s activity reveals a series of intermingled oscillations, generated by large ensembles of neurons, which provide a functional substrate for information processing. How single neuron properties influence neuronal population dynamics is an unsolved question, whose solution could help in the understanding of the emergent collective behaviors arising during cognitive processes. Here we consider a neural mass model, which reproduces exactly the macroscopic activity of a network of spiking neurons. This mean-field model is employed to shade some light on an important and ubiquitous neural mechanism underlying information processing in the brain: the θ-γ cross-frequency coupling. In particular, we will explore in detail the conditions under which two coupled inhibitory neural populations can generate these functionally relevant coupled rhythms.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juho Lee ◽  
Seungjun Ryu ◽  
Hyun-Ju Kim ◽  
Jieun Jung ◽  
Boreom Lee ◽  
...  

AbstractIntroductionThe accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) is one of the neuropathologic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and abnormal gamma band oscillations and brain connectivity have been observed. Recently, a therapeutic potential of gamma entrainment of the brain was reported by Iaccarino et al. However, the affected areas were limited to hippocampus and visual cortex. Therefore, we sought to test the effects of acoustic stimulation in a mouse model of AD.MethodsFreely moving 6-month-old 5XFAD mice with electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes were treated with daily two-hour acoustic stimulation at 40Hz for 2 weeks. Aβ and microglia were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Evoked and spontaneous gamma power were analyzed by wavelet analysis. Coherence, phase locking value (PLV), and cross-frequency coupling were analyzed.ResultsThe number of Aβ plaques decreased in the pre-and infralimbic (PIL) and hippocampus regions and soluble Aβ-40 and Aβ-42 peptides in PIL in the acoustic stimulation group. We also found that the number of microglia increased in PIL and hippocampus. In EEG analysis, evoked gamma power was decreased and spontaneous gamma power was increased. Gamma coherence and phase locking value did not show significant changes. Cross-frequency coupling was shifted from gamma-delta to gamma-theta rhythm.ConclusionIn summary, we found that acoustic stimulation at 40Hz can reduce Aβ in the brain and restore the gamma band oscillations and the frontoparietal connectivity. Our data suggest that acoustic stimulation might alter the natural deterioration processes of AD and have a therapeutic potential in AD.


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