Local field potentials reflect cortical population dynamics in a region-specific and frequency-dependent manner

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Systems Neuroscience

Background:

• Cortical neuron population activity is characterized by latent dynamics, representing population-wide covariance patterns.
• These latent dynamics are influenced by correlated synaptic currents, which also shape local field potentials (LFPs).
• The precise relationship between latent dynamics and LFPs is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between latent dynamics and LFPs in the primate sensorimotor cortex.
• To determine how this relationship varies across different cortical regions and during distinct behavioral phases (planning vs. execution).

Main Methods:

• Analysis of neural recordings from three regions of primate sensorimotor cortex during reaching tasks.
• Characterization of the frequency-dependent correlation between latent dynamics and LFPs.
• Comparison of LFP-latent dynamics correlations during movement planning and execution phases.

Main Results:

• A frequency-dependent correlation was observed between latent dynamics and LFPs, which varied across cortical regions.
• This LFP-latent dynamics correlation remained stable within each region throughout the reaching behavior.
• Primary motor and premotor cortices exhibited similar LFP-latent dynamics correlation profiles during both movement planning and execution.

Conclusions:

• Established robust associations between LFPs and neural population latent dynamics in the sensorimotor cortex.
• Provides a bridge between studies using LFPs and those examining neural population dynamics for understanding behavior.
• Highlights the utility of LFPs as a proxy for understanding complex neural population activity during behavior.