Effects on the Motor Cortex in Gamma Rhythm in Terms of Central Pattern Generator

Qiang Lu,Zhenpeng Ma,Wenfeng Li

doi:10.1109/access.2019.2942712

Qiang Lu, Zhenpeng Ma + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2019.2942712

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Abstract

The locomotion is one of the basic skills essential for animals’ survival. It is a key research field where the locomotion is modulated by the motor cortex. It is shown by the investigation that the neural oscillations have key roles in neural communication. To assess the impacts on the motor cortex in gamma rhythm based on different frequencies central pattern generator (CPG), it is attempted to establish the model between the motor cortex and the CPG. The primary motor cortex and the primary somatosensory cortex are included in the motor cortex. The effects level is qualified using the power spectrum, spiking time histogram, rastergram, spectrogram in terms of the wavelet analysis and coherence between neural populations. The main findings include (1) The CPG with various frequencies under the gamma rhythm frequency can be embedded in gamma oscillation and the gamma power is modified by the CPG phase. (2) There is an optimal CPG with appreciate frequency and amplitude making the neural populations oscillate for the best action in the gamma band. Therefore, to process the neural population the appropriate stimulus is suitable. (3) When CPGs with different parameters are sent into the neural populations, the coherence difference mainly takes place in the gamma band. Therefore, there is an interaction between the internal dynamics with incoming stimuli providing a substrate for processing the complex information. A beneficial exploration can be provided by the investigation on the information process mechanisms in the motor cortex.

Highlights

The motor cortex is a functional unit of cortex providing the spinal cord with input which defines the motor actions [1]
No central pattern generator (CPG) input current exists to the excitatory neurons, the impact of the modulation on the E population is supposed to be indirectly modified by the prediction of the I population to the E population
The periodic signal of CPG is employed to the primary somatosensory cortex while sending the data of the primary somatosensory cortex to the primary motor cortex

Summary

Introduction

The motor cortex is a functional unit of cortex providing the spinal cord with input which defines the motor actions [1]. The direct and indirect inputs can be accepted by motor cortex from multiple cortical areas such as premotor, sensory and executive centers. It is considered that the output of motor cortex is determined by both external sensory and internal driven information [2], [3]. It was speculated that input from the primary somatosensory cortex to motor cortex contributes to information integration and is a key basis of motor cortex’s output [4], [5]. The working mechanism of information transfer between the external input and the motor cortex is deserved to investigate. Because of the contribution to effective corticospinal interaction and sub-serve the cognitive flexibility, the coherence among the neural areas is deserved to study [6], [7]

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