Intracortical and corticothalamic coherency of fast spontaneous oscillations

We report that fast (mainly 30- to 40-Hz) coherent electric field oscillations appear spontaneously during brain activation, as expressed by electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythms, and they outlast the stimulation of mesopontine cholinergic nuclei in acutely prepared cats. The fast oscillations also appear during the sleep-like EEG patterns of ketamine/xylazine anesthesia, but they are selectively suppressed during the prolonged phase of the slow (<1-Hz) sleep oscillation that is associated with hyperpolarization of cortical neurons. The fast (30- to 40-Hz) rhythms are synchronized intracortically within vertical columns, among closely located cortical foci, and through reciprocal corticothalamic networks. The fast oscillations do not reverse throughout the depth of the cortex. This aspect stands in contrast with the conventional depth profile of evoked potentials and slow sleep oscillations that display opposite polarity at the surface and midlayers. Current-source-density analyses reveal that the fast oscillations are associated with alternating microsinks and microsources across the cortex, while the evoked potentials and the slow oscillation display a massive current sink in midlayers, confined by two sources in superficial and deep layers. The synchronization of fast rhythms and their high amplitudes indicate that the term "EEG desynchronization," used to designate brain-aroused states, is incorrect and should be replaced with the original term, "EEG activation" [Moruzzi, G. & Magoun, H.W. (1949) Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. 1, 455-473].