Neural assemblies coordinated by cortical waves are associated with waking and hallucinatory brain states.
Adeeti Aggarwal, Jennifer Luo, Helen Chung, Diego Contreras, Max B Kelz, Alex Proekt
Cell Reports April 23, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114017 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Mice |
| Interventions | visual stimuli ketamine |
| Topics | Ketamine |
| Keywords | Cp: neuroscience Vep Feedback Hallucination Isoflurane State specific Traveling waves Travelling cortical waves Visual evoked potential Brain waves Consciousness states Anesthesia effects Visual processing |
| Citations | 17 |
| Key findings | Traveling cortical waves coordinate neuronal assemblies in states where perception can occur, but only in wakefulness are these waves reliably elicited by external visual stimuli. |
Abstract
The relationship between sensory stimuli and perceptions is brain-state dependent: in wakefulness, suprathreshold stimuli evoke perceptions; under anesthesia, perceptions are abolished; and during dreaming and in dissociated states, percepts are internally generated. Here, we exploit this state dependence to identify brain activity associated with internally generated or stimulus-evoked perceptions. In awake mice, visual stimuli phase reset spontaneous cortical waves to elicit 3-6 Hz feedback traveling waves. These stimulus-evoked waves traverse the cortex and entrain visual and parietal neurons. Under anesthesia as well as during ketamine-induced dissociation, visual stimuli do not disrupt spontaneous waves. Uniquely, in the dissociated state, spontaneous waves traverse the cortex caudally and entrain visual and parietal neurons, akin to stimulus-evoked waves in wakefulness. Thus, coordinated neuronal assemblies orchestrated by traveling cortical waves emerge in states in which perception can manifest. The awake state is privileged in that this coordination is reliably elicited by external visual stimuli.