Traveling waves across scales: Different mechanisms but same canonical computation?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Dynamical Systems Theory

Background:

• Non-stationary dynamical cortical states, including neural activity changing over time, are an emerging research area.
• Traveling waves, a specific type of spatio-temporal pattern, are frequently observed across various scales of the cerebral cortex.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a unifying framework for understanding spatio-temporal traveling wave patterns in cortical activity.
• To categorize traveling waves into distinct types based on their generative mechanisms (first- and second-order).
• To posit that these traveling waves subserve a canonical computation fundamental to diverse brain functions.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical framework development.
• Categorization of traveling waves based on proposed mechanistic differences.
• Formulation of testable predictions at mechanistic and functional levels.

Main Results:

• Introduction of the 'first-order' and 'second-order' traveling wave classification.
• Establishment of a unifying framework for diverse traveling wave phenomena.
• Hypothesis that traveling waves impose a computational syntax on neuronal processing.

Conclusions:

• Traveling waves across cortical scales, despite diverse origins, share a common computational role.
• The proposed categorization provides a basis for future empirical and theoretical investigations.
• Traveling waves are proposed as a fundamental mechanism for ordering neural processing and enabling complex brain functions.