Spontaneous cortical activity in awake monkeys composed of neuronal avalanches.

ABSTRACT: Spontaneous neuronal activity is an important property of the cerebral cortex but its spatiotemporal organization and dynamical framework remain poorly understood. Studies in reduced systems--tissue cultures, acute slices, and anesthetized rats--show that spontaneous activity forms characteristic clusters in space and time, called neuronal avalanches. Modeling studies suggest that networks with this property are poised at a critical state that optimizes input processing, information storage, and transfer, but the relevance of avalanches for fully functional cerebral systems has been controversial. Here we show that ongoing cortical synchronization in awake rhesus monkeys carries the signature of neuronal avalanches. Negative LFP deflections (nLFPs) correlate with neuronal spiking and incre

SUBMITTER: Petermann T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2732708 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature