Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information

Griffiths, Benjamin James; Mayhew, Stephen D; Mullinger, Karen J; Jorge, Jo�o; Charest, Ian; Wimber, Maria; Hanslmayr, Simon

Abstract

© 2019, Griffiths et al. Massed synchronised neuronal firing is detrimental to information processing. When networks of task-irrelevant neurons fire in unison, they mask the signal generated by task-critical neurons. On a macroscopic level, such synchronisation can contribute to alpha/beta (8-30 Hz) oscillations. Reducing the amplitude of these oscillations, therefore, may enhance information processing. Here, we test this hypothesis. Twenty-one participants completed an associative memory task while undergoing simultaneous EEG-fMRI recordings. Using representational similarity analysis, we quantified the amount of stimulus-specific information represented within the BOLD signal on every trial. When correlating this metric with concurrently-recorded alpha/beta power, we found a significant negative correlation which indicated that as post-stimulus alpha/beta power decreased, stimulus-specific information increased. Critically, we found this effect in three unique tasks: visual perception, auditory perception, and visual memory retrieval, indicating that this phenomenon transcends both stimulus modality and cognitive task. These results indicate that alpha/beta power decreases parametrically track the fidelity of both externally-presented and internally-generated stimulus-specific information represented within the cortex.

Citation

Griffiths, B. J., Mayhew, S. D., Mullinger, K. J., Jorge, J., Charest, I., Wimber, M., & Hanslmayr, S. (2019). Alpha/beta power decreases track the fidelity of stimulus-specific information. eLife, 8, Article e49562. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.49562

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 28, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 29, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 29, 2019
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 9, 2019
• Journal: eLife
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-084X
• Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Article Number: e49562
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.49562
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3514152
• Publisher URL: https://elifesciences.org/articles/49562