Abstract

Rhythmic neural activity in the alpha band (8–13 Hz) is thought to have an important role in the selective processing of visual information. Typically, modulations in alpha amplitude and instantaneous frequency are thought to reflect independent mechanisms impacting dissociable aspects of visual information processing. However, in complex systems with interacting oscillators such as the brain, amplitude and frequency are mathematically dependent. Here, we record electroencephalography in human subjects and show that both alpha amplitude and instantaneous frequency predict behavioral performance in the same visual discrimination task. Consistent with a model of coupled oscillators, we show that fluctuations in instantaneous frequency predict alpha amplitude on a single trial basis, empirically demonstrating that these metrics are not independent. This interdependence suggests that changes in amplitude and instantaneous frequency reflect a common change in the excitatory and inhibitory neural activity that regulates alpha oscillations and visual information processing.

Details

Title
Fluctuations in instantaneous frequency predict alpha amplitude during visual perception
Author
Nelli, Stephanie 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Itthipuripat, Sirawaj 2 ; Srinivasan, Ramesh 3 ; Serences, John T 4 

1  Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA 
2  Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Learning Institute, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand 
3  Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA 
4  Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA 
Pages
1-12
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Dec 2017
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02176-x
ProQuest document ID
1983419855
Copyright
© 2017. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.