Human thalamus regulates cortical activity via spatially specific and structurally constrained phase-amplitude coupling.

ABSTRACT: Although the thalamus is believed to regulate and coordinate cortical activity both within and across functional regions, such as motor and visual cortices, direct evidence for such regulation and the mechanism of regulation remains poorly described. Using simultaneous invasive recordings of cortical and thalamic electrophysiological activity in 2 awake and spontaneously behaving human subjects, we provide direct evidence of thalamic regulation of cortical activity through a mechanism of phase-amplitude coupling (PAC), in which the phase of low frequency oscillations regulates the amplitude of higher frequency oscillations. Specifically, we show that cortical PAC between the theta phase and beta amplitude is spatially dependent on and time variant with the magnitude of thalamocortical thet

SUBMITTER: Malekmohammadi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4447821 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature