Abstract
Slow oscillation (4–8 Hz) in the prefrontal cortex is widely observed across species during various cognitive processes such as working memory. In humans and primates, the slow oscillation observed in the frontal area is termed ‘midline-frontal theta’ (FM-theta) oscillation. In rodents, the slow oscillation in the prefrontal cortex is termed ‘4-Hz’ oscillation. Although the generation mechanisms of FM-theta and 4-Hz oscillations have not been revealed yet, it is hypothesized that FM-theta in humans and 4-Hz in rodents have similar physiological properties and functions. Here, the roles of FM–theta and 4-Hz oscillations on cognitive functions and neuronal computations within local circuits and across large-scale brain networks are described.
References
Anguera JA, Boccanfuso J, Rintoul JL, Al-Hashimi O, Faraji F, Janowich J, Kong E, Larraburo Y, Rolle C, Johnston E, Gazzaley A (2013) Video game training enhances cognitive control in older adults. Nature 501:97–101
Axmacher N, Henseler MM, Jensen O, Weinreich I, Elger CE, Fell J (2010) Cross-frequency coupling supports multi-item working memory in the human hippocampus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:3228–3233
Baddeley A (2003) Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nat Rev Neurosci 4:829–839
Brandon MP, Bogaard AR, Schultheiss NW, Hasselmo ME (2013) Segregation of cortical head direction cell assemblies on alternating theta cycles. Nat Neurosci 16:739–748
Buzsaki G (2002) Theta oscillations in the hippocampus. Neuron 33:325–340
Buzsáki G (2006) Rhythms of the brain. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Buzsaki G, Draguhn A (2004) Neuronal oscillations in cortical networks. Science 304:1926–1929
Buzsaki G, Wang XJ (2012) Mechanisms of gamma oscillations. Annu Rev Neurosci 35:203–225
Canolty RT, Knight RT (2010) The functional role of cross-frequency coupling. Trends Cogn Sci 14:506–515
Canolty RT, Edwards E, Dalal SS, Soltani M, Nagarajan SS, Kirsch HE, Berger MS, Barbaro NM, Knight RT (2006) High gamma power is phase-locked to theta oscillations in human neocortex. Science 313:1626–1628
Canolty RT, Ganguly K, Kennerley SW, Cadieu CF, Koepsell K, Wallis JD, Carmena JM (2010) Oscillatory phase coupling coordinates anatomically dispersed functional cell assemblies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:17356–17361
Cavanagh JF, Frank MJ (2014) Frontal theta as a mechanism for cognitive control. Trends Cogn Sci 18:414–421
Cavanagh JF, Cohen MX, Allen JJ (2009) Prelude to and resolution of an error: EEG phase synchrony reveals cognitive control dynamics during action monitoring. J Neurosci 29:98–105
Cavanagh JF, Frank MJ, Klein TJ, Allen JJ (2010) Frontal theta links prediction errors to behavioral adaptation in reinforcement learning. NeuroImage 49:3198–3209
Cavanagh JF, Wiecki TV, Cohen MX, Figueroa CM, Samanta J, Sherman SJ, Frank MJ (2011) Subthalamic nucleus stimulation reverses mediofrontal influence over decision threshold. Nat Neurosci 14:1462–1467
Cavanagh JF, Zambrano-Vazquez L, Allen JJ (2012) Theta lingua franca: a common mid-frontal substrate for action monitoring processes. Psychophysiology 49:220–238
Cavanagh JF, Eisenberg I, Guitart-Masip M, Huys Q, Frank MJ (2013) Frontal theta overrides pavlovian learning biases. J Neurosci 33:8541–8548
Cohen MX (2014) A neural microcircuit for cognitive conflict detection and signaling. Trends Neurosci 37:480–490
Cohen MX, van Gaal S (2013) Dynamic interactions between large-scale brain networks predict behavioral adaptation after perceptual errors. Cereb Cortex 23:1061–1072
Dejean C, Courtin J, Karalis N, Chaudun F, Wurtz H, Bienvenu TC, Herry C (2016) Prefrontal neuronal assemblies temporally control fear behaviour. Nature 535:420–424
Fell J, Axmacher N (2011) The role of phase synchronization in memory processes. Nat Rev Neurosci 12:105–118
Fries P (2009) Neuronal gamma-band synchronization as a fundamental process in cortical computation. Annu Rev Neurosci 32:209–224
Fujisawa S, Buzsaki G (2011) A 4 Hz oscillation adaptively synchronizes prefrontal, VTA, and hippocampal activities. Neuron 72:153–165
Fujisawa S, Amarasingham A, Harrison MT, Buzsaki G (2008) Behavior-dependent short-term assembly dynamics in the medial prefrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci 11:823–833
Gevins A, Smith ME, McEvoy L, Yu D (1997) High-resolution EEG mapping of cortical activation related to working memory: effects of task difficulty, type of processing, and practice. Cereb Cortex 7:374–385
Goldman-Rakic PS (1995) Cellular basis of working memory. Neuron 14:477–485
Hanslmayr S, Pastotter B, Bauml KH, Gruber S, Wimber M, Klimesch W (2008) The electrophysiological dynamics of interference during the Stroop task. J Cogn Neurosci 20:215–225
Herry C, Johansen JP (2014) Encoding of fear learning and memory in distributed neuronal circuits. Nat Neurosci 17:1644–54
Holroyd CB, Coles MG (2002) The neural basis of human error processing: reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity. Psychol Rev 109:679–709
Hutchison RM, Womelsdorf T, Allen EA, Bandettini PA, Calhoun VD, Corbetta M, Della Penna S, Duyn JH, Glover GH, Gonzalez-Castillo J et al (2013) Dynamic functional connectivity: promise, issues, and interpretations. NeuroImage 80:360–378
Jensen O, Colgin LL (2007) Cross-frequency coupling between neuronal oscillations. Trends Cogn Sci 11:267–269
Jensen O, Tesche CD (2002) Frontal theta activity in humans increases with memory load in a working memory task. Eur J Neurosci 15:1395–1399
Jung MW, Qin Y, McNaughton BL, Barnes CA (1998) Firing characteristics of deep layer neurons in prefrontal cortex in rats performing spatial working memory tasks. Cereb Cortex 8:437–450
Karalis N, Dejean C, Chaudun F, Khoder S, Rozeske RR, Wurtz H, Bagur S, Benchenane K, Sirota A, Courtin J, Herry C (2016) 4-Hz oscillations synchronize prefrontal-amygdala circuits during fear behavior. Nat Neurosci 19:605–612
Lakatos P, Karmos G, Mehta AD, Ulbert I, Schroeder CE (2008) Entrainment of neuronal oscillations as a mechanism of attentional selection. Science 320:110–113
Liebe S, Hoerzer GM, Logothetis NK, Rainer G (2012) Theta coupling between V4 and prefrontal cortex predicts visual short-term memory performance. Nat Neurosci 15(456–462):S451–S452
Luo H, Poeppel D (2007) Phase patterns of neuronal responses reliably discriminate speech in human auditory cortex. Neuron 54:1001–1010
Luu P, Tucker DM, Makeig S (2004) Frontal midline theta and the error-related negativity: neurophysiological mechanisms of action regulation. Clin Neurophysiol 115:1821–1835
McNab F, Klingberg T (2008) Prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia control access to working memory. Nat Neurosci 11:103–107
Miller EK, Cohen JD (2001) An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annu Rev Neurosci 24:167–202
Missonnier P, Deiber MP, Gold G, Millet P, Gex-Fabry Pun M, Fazio-Costa L, Giannakopoulos P, Ibanez V (2006) Frontal theta event-related synchronization: comparison of directed attention and working memory load effects. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 113:1477–1486
Mitchell DJ, McNaughton N, Flanagan D, Kirk IJ (2008) Frontal-midline theta from the perspective of hippocampal “theta”. Prog Neurobiol 86:156–185
Narayanan NS, Cavanagh JF, Frank MJ, Laubach M (2013) Common medial frontal mechanisms of adaptive control in humans and rodents. Nat Neurosci 16:1888–1895
von Nicolai C, Engler G, Sharott A, Engel AK, Moll CK, Siegel M (2014) Corticostriatal coordination through coherent phase-amplitude coupling. J Neurosci 34:5938–5948
Nigbur R, Ivanova G, Sturmer B (2011) Theta power as a marker for cognitive interference. Clin Neurophysiol 122:2185–2194
Onton J, Delorme A, Makeig S (2005) Frontal midline EEG dynamics during working memory. NeuroImage 27:341–356
Parker KL, Chen KH, Kingyon JR, Cavanagh JF, Narayanan NS (2014) D1-dependent 4 Hz oscillations and ramping activity in rodent medial frontal cortex during interval timing. J Neurosci 34:16774–16783
Payne L, Kounios J (2009) Coherent oscillatory networks supporting short-term memory retention. Brain Res 1247:126–132
Raghavachari S, Kahana MJ, Rizzuto DS, Caplan JB, Kirschen MP, Bourgeois B, Madsen JR, Lisman JE (2001) Gating of human theta oscillations by a working memory task. J Neurosci 21:3175–3183
Roux F, Uhlhaas PJ (2014) Working memory and neural oscillations: alpha-gamma versus theta-gamma codes for distinct WM information? Trends Cogn Sci 18:16–25
Saleh M, Reimer J, Penn R, Ojakangas CL, Hatsopoulos NG (2010) Fast and slow oscillations in human primary motor cortex predict oncoming behaviorally relevant cues. Neuron 65:461–471
Sarnthein J, Petsche H, Rappelsberger P, Shaw GL, von Stein A (1998) Synchronization between prefrontal and posterior association cortex during human working memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 95:7092–7096
Sauseng P, Klimesch W, Schabus M, Doppelmayr M (2005) Fronto-parietal EEG coherence in theta and upper alpha reflect central executive functions of working memory. Int J Psychophysiol 57:97–103
Sauseng P, Hoppe J, Klimesch W, Gerloff C, Hummel FC (2007) Dissociation of sustained attention from central executive functions: local activity and interregional connectivity in the theta range. Eur J Neurosci 25:587–593
Scheeringa R, Petersson KM, Oostenveld R, Norris DG, Hagoort P, Bastiaansen MC (2009) Trial-by-trial coupling between EEG and BOLD identifies networks related to alpha and theta EEG power increases during working memory maintenance. NeuroImage 44:1224–1238
Schroeder CE, Lakatos P (2009) Low-frequency neuronal oscillations as instruments of sensory selection. Trends Neurosci 32:9–18
Schultz W, Dickinson A (2000) Neuronal coding of prediction errors. Annu Rev Neurosci 23:473–500
Shackman AJ, Salomons TV, Slagter HA, Fox AS, Winter JJ, Davidson RJ (2011) The integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci 12:154–167
Siegel M, Donner TH, Engel AK (2012) Spectral fingerprints of large-scale neuronal interactions. Nat Rev Neurosci 13:121–134
Tort AB, Kramer MA, Thorn C, Gibson DJ, Kubota Y, Graybiel AM, Kopell NJ (2008) Dynamic cross-frequency couplings of local field potential oscillations in rat striatum and hippocampus during performance of a T-maze task. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:20517–20522
Varela F, Lachaux JP, Rodriguez E, Martinerie J (2001) The brainweb: phase synchronization and large-scale integration. Nat Rev Neurosci 2:229–239
van de Vijver I, Ridderinkhof KR, Cohen MX (2011) Frontal oscillatory dynamics predict feedback learning and action adjustment. J Cogn Neurosci 23:4106–4121
Womelsdorf T, Schoffelen JM, Oostenveld R, Singer W, Desimone R, Engel AK, Fries P (2007) Modulation of neuronal interactions through neuronal synchronization. Science 316:1609–1612
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fujisawa, S. (2017). Slow Oscillation in Prefrontal Cortex Underlying Local Computations and Large-Scale Interactions. In: Opris, I., Casanova, M.F. (eds) The Physics of the Mind and Brain Disorders. Springer Series in Cognitive and Neural Systems, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29674-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29674-6_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29672-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29674-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)