Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Spatial patterns of spontaneous local field activity in the monkey visual cortex.

David A Leopold1, Nikos K Logothetis

  • 1Max Planck Institut für biologische Kybernetik, Tübingen, Germany. david.leopold@tuebingen.mpg.de

Reviews in the Neurosciences
|August 22, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Spontaneous brain activity in the visual cortex shows widespread synchronization, not random noise. This ongoing neural synchronization is influenced by cortical distance, revealing global mechanisms at play.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Resting fMRI functional connectivity reflects fluctuations in inhibitory interneuron activity.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

An implanted lennula approach to measure neural Ca<sup>2+</sup> responses in the awake marmoset visual cortex.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2026
Same author

Sensory encoding and memory retrieval are coordinated with propagating waves in the human brain.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Targeted gene transfer into developmentally defined cell populations of the primate brain.

Cell reports·2025
Same author

Lateralized visuotopic organization in the macaque superior colliculus revealed by fMRI.

Progress in neurobiology·2025
Same author

Diffusion kurtosis imaging, MAP-MRI and NODDI selectively track gray matter myelin density in the primate cerebral cortex.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2025

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Systems Neuroscience

Background:

  • Spontaneous neural activity was traditionally viewed as random or homeostatic.
  • Recent evidence suggests spontaneous activity is synchronized across cortical areas.
  • This synchronization impacts neuronal responses to visual stimuli, implying functional relevance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of local field potential (LFP) fluctuations during spontaneous activity in the primate visual cortex.
  • To determine how LFP coherence changes with frequency and cortical distance.
  • To identify the influence of global mechanisms on spontaneous LFP activity.

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous recording of LFP using a 16-electrode array in the visual cortex of awake macaque monkeys.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of LFP signal coherence across different frequencies and distances.
  • Experiment involving electrodes placed across a sulcus to assess synchrony interruption.

    • Main Results:

    • Raw LFP signal coherence decreased rapidly with frequency and distance.
    • Slower fluctuations in LFP power, including high gamma-range frequencies, exhibited high coherence that decayed slowly with cortical distance.
    • Cortical folding (sulci) reliably interrupted LFP synchrony, detectable within minutes.

    Conclusions:

    • A substantial component of spontaneous LFP fluctuations in the visual cortex originates from global mechanisms.
    • Neural synchrony during spontaneous activity is primarily dependent on the cortical separation between recording sites.
    • Ongoing synchronized activity plays a significant role in visual processing and brain function.