The frequency gradient of human resting-state brain oscillations follows cortical hierarchies

Keyvan Mahjoory (Lead / Corresponding author), Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen, Anne Keitel, Joachim Gross (Lead / Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Citations (Scopus)
155 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The human cortex is characterized by local morphological features such as cortical thickness, myelin content, and gene expression that change along the posterior-anterior axis. We investigated if some of these structural gradients are associated with a similar gradient in a prominent feature of brain activity - namely the frequency of oscillations. In resting-state MEG recordings from healthy participants (N=187) using mixed effect models, we found that the dominant peak frequency in a brain area decreases significantly along the posterior-anterior axis following the global hierarchy from early sensory to higher-order areas. This spatial gradient of peak frequency was significantly anticorrelated with that of cortical thickness, representing a proxy of the cortical hierarchical level. This result indicates that the dominant frequency changes systematically and globally along the spatial and hierarchical gradients and establishes a new structure-function relationship pertaining to brain oscillations as a core organization that may underlie hierarchical specialization in the brain.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere53715
Number of pages18
JournaleLife
Volume9
Early online date21 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Sept 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The frequency gradient of human resting-state brain oscillations follows cortical hierarchies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this