Theta–gamma coupling as a ubiquitous brain mechanism: implications for memory, attention, dreaming, imagination, and consciousness
Mauro Ursino, G. Pirazzini
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences October 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101433 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | Argues that theta–gamma coupling, first observed in the hippocampus as a memory code, is present throughout the brain and contributes to working memory, episodic and semantic memory, attention, emotion, dreaming, and imagination, and that its information-integration capacity is fundamental to many conscious cognitive processes. Altered mental states and neurological disorders show marked changes in the theta–gamma code. |
Abstract
Brain rhythms are known to play a relevant role in many cognitive functions. In particular, coupling between theta and gamma oscillations was first observed in the hippocampus, where it is assumed to implement a code for organizing multiple items in memory. More recent advances, however, demonstrate that this mechanism is ubiquitously present in the brain and plays a role not only in working memory but also in episodic and semantic memory, attention, emotion, dreaming, and imagination. Furthermore, altered mental states and neurological disorders show profound alterations in the theta–gamma code. In this review, which summarizes the most recent experimental and theoretical evidence, we suggest that the substantial capacity to integrate information characteristic of the theta–gamma entrainment is fundamental for implementing many conscious cognitive processes
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| Sleep and dreaming are for important matters | 2013 | Review | |
| Nightmare Disorder and Isolated Sleep Paralysis | 2020 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors | 1996 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 13
- Theories of consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 1, 2022
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 14, 2019
- An adversarial collaboration protocol for testing contrasting predictions of global neuronal workspace and integrated information theory PLoS One February 10, 2023
- Neural Correlates of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness in Pranayama Practitioners: The Role of Slow Nasal Breathing Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience March 21, 2022
and 8 more in the library