The thalamus as the generator and modulator of EEG alpha rhythm: a combined PET/EEG study with lorazepam challenge in humans

Schreckenberger, Mathias; Lange-Asschenfeldt, Christian; Lochmann, Matthias; Mann, Klaus; Siessmeier, Thomas; Buchholz, Hans‐Georg; Bartenstein, Peter; Gründer, Gerhard

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.01.047

Cited by 168 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This replicates the hallmark finding of EEG-fMRI correlations (de Munck et al, 2007;Difrancesco et al, 2008;Feige et al, 2005;Goldman et al, 2002;Goncalves et al, 2006;Lüchinger et al, 2011;Moosmann et al, 2003;Tyvaert et al, 2008) and EEG-PET studies (Sadato et al, 1998;Schreckenberger et al, 2004). This finding corroborates the long standing concept that alpha synchronization reflects an idling state of thalamocortical arousal regulation characterized by cortical down regulation in sensory areas (for review e.g.…”

Section: Eeg-bold Signal Correlationssupporting

confidence: 87%

Brain state regulation during normal development: Intrinsic activity fluctuations in simultaneous EEG–fMRI

et al. 2012

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Brain maturation in adolescence is mirrored by the EEG as a pronounced decrease in low frequency activity. This EEG power attenuation parallels reductions of structural and metabolic markers of neuronal maturation (i.e., gray matter loss and decrease of absolute cerebral glucose utilization). However, it is largely unknown what causes these electrophysiological changes, and how this functional reorganization relates to other functional measures such as the fMRI BOLD signal. In this study, we used simultaneously recorded EEG and fMRI to localize hemodynamic correlates of fluctuating EEG oscillations and to study the development of this EEG-BOLD coupling. Furthermore, the maturational EEG power attenuation was directly compared to BOLD signal power maturation. Both analyses were novel in their developmental perspective and aimed at providing a functional lead to EEG maturation. Data from 19 children, 18 adolescents and 18 young adults were acquired in 10min eyes-open/eyes-closed resting states. Our results revealed that both EEG and BOLD amplitudes strongly decrease between childhood and adulthood, but their functional coupling remains largely unchanged. The global reduction of absolute amplitude of spontaneous slow BOLD signal fluctuation is a novel marker for brain maturation, and parallels the globally decreasing trajectories of EEG amplitudes, gray matter and glucose metabolism during adolescence. Further, the absence of thalamocortical EEG-BOLD coupling in children together with age-related normalized thalamic BOLD power increase indicated maturational changes in brain state regulation. Abstract -Brain maturation in adolescence is mirrored by the EEG as a pronounced decrease in low frequency activity. This EEG power attenuation parallels reductions of structural and metabolic markers of neuronal maturation (i.e., gray matter loss and decrease of absolute cerebral glucose utilization). However, it is largely unknown what causes these electrophysiological changes, and how this functional reorganization relates to other functional measures such as the fMRI BOLD signal. In this study, we used simultaneously recorded EEG and fMRI to localize hemodynamic correlates of fluctuating EEG oscillations and to study the development of this EEG-BOLD coupling. Furthermore, the maturational EEG power attenuation was directly compared to BOLD signal power maturation. Both analyses were novel in their developmental perspective and aimed at providing a functional lead to EEG maturation. Data from 19 children, 18 adolescents and 18 young adults were acquired in 10 min eyes-open/eyes-closed resting states. Our results revealed that both EEG and BOLD amplitudes strongly decrease between childhood and adulthood, but their functional coupling remains largely unchanged. The global reduction of absolute amplitude of spontaneous slow BOLD signal fluctuation is a novel marker for brain maturation, and parallels the globally decreasing trajectories of EEG amplitudes, gray matter and glucose metabolism during adolescence. Furthe...

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Section: Eeg-bold Signal Correlationssupporting

confidence: 87%

Brain state regulation during normal development: Intrinsic activity fluctuations in simultaneous EEG–fMRI

et al. 2012

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“…We now report high thalamocortical coherence of ϳ7 Hz, which was comparable in magnitude to EEG coherence between scalp electrodes. This finding suggests that thalamic and cortical factors are both relevantly contributing to the cortical rhythmicity recorded by scalp EEG (Nunez et al, 2001;Schreckenberger et al, 2004). The pathophysiological effects of PD on the thalamus thus lead to a slowing of scalp EEG in PD patients (Soikkeli et al, 1991;Stanzione et al, 1996;Tanaka et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Because high thalamocortical correlation is also observed experimentally in healthy brains (Lopes da Silva et al, 1973;Schürmann et al, 2000;Schreckenberger et al, 2004), it can be assumed that the concept of thalamocortical modules (Llinas et al, 1998(Llinas et al, , 1999Destexhe, 2000) is also valid in healthy human subjects. Nevertheless, the differences between LFP and EEG spectra underline that scalp EEG is not simply driven by the thalamus but depends also on cortical influences.…”

Section: Thalamocortical Interplaymentioning

confidence: 99%

High Thalamocortical Theta Coherence in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Sarnthein

Jeanmonod²

2007

J. Neurosci.

115

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Research investigating the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) mostly focuses on basal ganglia dysfunction. However, the main output from the basal ganglia is via the thalamus, and corticothalamic feedback constitutes the primary source of synapses in the thalamus. We therefore focus on the thalamocortical interplay. During the surgical intervention in six patients, local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from pallidal-recipient thalamic nuclei VA and VLa. Simultaneously, EEG was recorded from several sites on the scalp. The highest thalamocortical coherence was found in the theta frequency band (4 -9 Hz) with a mean peak frequency of 7.5 Hz. The magnitude of thalamocortical theta coherence was comparable to the magnitude of EEG coherence between scalp electrode pairs. Thalamocortical theta coherence reached 70% and was maximal with frontal scalp sites on both hemispheres. In the 13-20 Hz ␤ frequency band, maximal coherence was comparatively low but localized on the scalp ipsilateral to the site of thalamic LFP recording. The high thalamocortical coherence underlines the importance of thalamic function for the genesis of scalp EEG. We discuss the PD pathophysiology within the framework of dysrhythmic thalamocortical interplay, which has important consequences for the choice of therapeutic strategy in patients with severe forms of PD.

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“…'' In the introduction we suggested that the SCP and alpha activity share antecedent conditions and that therefore they may perhaps be closely related neural phenomena. This idea is reinforced by the potential sharing of thalamo-cortical loops as the most likely source of slow cortical potentials such as the SCP as well as alpha generation (Birbaumer et al, 1990;Danos et al, 2001;Goldman et al, 2002;Nagai et al, 2004;Rockstroh et al, 1989;Schreckenberger et al, 2004). Alternatively, the reticular EEG and ERP during response anticipation 353 formation (RF) may be the primary source, as the RF is known to modulate thalamic activity (the reticular formation of the thalamus) and to affect both slow cortical potentials and oscillatory activity (Birbaumer et al, 1990;Rockstroh et al, 1989).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thalamic activity has been shown to be correlated to the SCP (Birbaumer et al, 1990;Strehl et al, 2006), and thalamo-cortical connections are essential in the formation of alpha oscillatory activity (Steriade, 2000). In addition, the SCP has been shown to correlate on a trial-by-trial basis with fMRI BOLD signal in the thalamus (Nagai et al, 2004), and lateral thalamic metabolic rate has also been found to correlate highly with alpha power (Danos, Guich, Abel, & Buchsbaum, 2001;Goldman, Stern, Engel, & Cohen, 2002;Schreckenberger et al, 2004). The SCP and alpha synchronization may even be flip sides of the same coin, as it has been argued that ERPs (partially) arise from changes in ongoing oscillatory activity through phase locking (Klimesch, Sauseng, & Hanslmayr, 2007;Min et al, 2007;Sauseng et al, 2005) or through desynchronization of oscillations with a nonzero mean (Nikulin et al, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic and genetic correlations between evoked EEG/ERP measures during the response anticipation period of a delayed response task

et al. 2009

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We investigated the relationship between three electrophysiological indices of response anticipation in a spatial delayed response task with a low and high memory load manipulation: a slow cortical potential (SCP), theta desynchronization, and upper alpha synchronization. Individual differences in these three measures were examined in 531 adult twins and siblings. Heritability of the SCP at occipital-parietal leads varied from 30% to 43%. Heritability of upper alpha synchronization (35% to 65%) and theta desynchronization (31% to 50%) was significant at all leads. Theta desynchronization and upper alpha synchronization were significantly correlated (r $ 43%), but SCP was not correlated with either. The effect of working memory load on all three measures was not heritable. Response anticipation reliably evokes an SCP, upper alpha synchronization and theta desynchronization, but variation in these measures reflects different (genetic) sources.

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The thalamus as the generator and modulator of EEG alpha rhythm: a combined PET/EEG study with lorazepam challenge in humans

Cited by 168 publications

References 38 publications

Brain state regulation during normal development: Intrinsic activity fluctuations in simultaneous EEG–fMRI

Brain state regulation during normal development: Intrinsic activity fluctuations in simultaneous EEG–fMRI

High Thalamocortical Theta Coherence in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Phenotypic and genetic correlations between evoked EEG/ERP measures during the response anticipation period of a delayed response task

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