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Gamma and beta bursts during working memory readout suggest roles in its volitional control
Mikael Lundqvist1, Pawel Herman2, Melissa R Warden3,4
1The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA. lundqvis@mit.edu.
Nature Communications
|January 28, 2018
Summary
Working memory involves dynamic bursts of gamma and beta brain oscillations. Beta oscillations may regulate gamma oscillations, influencing information processing and leading to behavioral errors when disrupted.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Working memory (WM) is traditionally viewed as sustained neural activity.
- Emerging evidence suggests WM involves dynamic neural oscillations, specifically gamma and beta frequencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinct roles of gamma and beta oscillations in working memory.
- To explore the relationship between neural oscillations, information readout, and control mechanisms in WM.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological recordings in monkeys performing a delayed sequence matching task.
- Analysis of gamma (~50-120 Hz) and beta (~20-35 Hz) oscillation bursting in relation to stimulus information and behavior.
Main Results:
- Distinct patterns of gamma and beta bursting were observed during WM maintenance and retrieval.
- Increased gamma and spiking information, with reduced beta bursting, preceded the use of WM information for decision-making.
- Increased beta and decreased gamma, along with reduced information, occurred when WM items were no longer relevant.
- Deviations in these oscillatory dynamics predicted behavioral errors.
Conclusions:
- Working memory involves dynamic, not sustained, neural activity characterized by distinct gamma and beta oscillation patterns.
- Beta oscillations may play a regulatory role in controlling gamma oscillations and information content within WM.
- These findings offer insights into the neural mechanisms of information readout and control in working memory.
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