Research Projects

Understanding Neural Oscillations

Gireeja Ranade and Jose M. Carmena

National Science Foundation and Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Action potentials (spikes) are commonly thought to be involved in the encoding and transfer of information within the cortex. While low frequency oscillations in a recorded electrical signal (below 300 Hz) are ubiquitously observed in EEG, ECoG and LFP (local field potential) recordings, there is little agreement regarding the functional roles they serve in the brain. Sejnowski and Paulsen [1] proposed three possible functions for these oscillations: (1) information representation, (2) information flow regulation and (3) information storage and retrieval. The information encoded in neuronal oscillations is an important resource towards the development of a brain-machine-interface. For instance, LFP recordings have been shown to encode information regarding movement direction [2]. The aim of this project is to better understand both the function of oscillations in the cortex, as well as the information they encode.

[1]

T. Sejnowski and O. Paulsen, “Network Oscillations: Emerging Computational Principles,” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 26, no. 6, p. 1673, 2006.

[2]

J. Rickert et. al, “Encoding of Movement Direction in Different Frequency Ranges of Motor Cortical Local Field Potentials,” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 25, no. 39, p. 8815-8824

More information: http://eecs.berkeley.edu/~carmena/