Synchronized ∼15.0–35.0 Hz oscillatory response to spatially modulated visual patterns in man

Abstract

When suitably stimulated, neurons in the striate visual cortex of cats fire in bursts at 20–60 Hz and the membrane potential oscillates rhythmically in the same frequency range and in phase. [4, 5, 7, 8] These oscillations reflect intrinsic properties of mammalian neurons, [9] occur in coherent spatial patterns that depend on the segregation and stimulus selectivity of stimulated cells, and mediate in long-range synchronization across columns and over large cortical areas of cells responding to the same stimulus property/properties. [1, 4, 5, 7, 19] The pool of activated neurons may be adequate in size to drive cellular oscillations into local fields and mass responses. Accordingly, stimulus-dependent oscillatory activity in the same frequency range was described in man after contrast stimulation. [17] Our results describe oscillatory potentials at ∼15.0–35.0 Hz that in man are (partly) independent from, and anticipate the occurrence of, the conventional low-frequency visual response evoked by transient, foveal stimulation with spatially-modulated patterns.