Dynamic Linkage Between Local Cross-frequency Coupling and Communication Through Coherence in an in Vitro Model of Human Neocortical Oscillatory Activity

The dynamical underpinnings of complex computation and information transmission within the brain, while of great interest to the neuroscience community at large, remain poorly understood. One of the striking manifestations of neuronal population activity is that of rhythmic oscillations in the local field potential. It is thought that distinct patterns of these oscillations such as cross-frequency coupling within a given spatial location and coherence between disparate brain regions may represent neuronal computation and communication, respectively. Here we show such dynamics within a human temporal neocortical in vitro model. In specific, we show theta-gamma cross frequency coupling in deep and superficial layers, phase coherence between layers at theta frequencies, and a measure of communication (phase dependent power correlations) between layers at theta frequency. Additionally, we show a novel correlation between communication across layers and cross frequency coupling within layers, demonstrating a dynamic link between local computation and intralaminar communication.MAS