Unifying networks of a rhythm

Abstract

Combining electrophysiological, anatomical and functional brain maps reveals networks of beta neural activity that align with dopamine uptake.

Keywords: beta oscillations; brain connectivity; dopamine; human; invasive electrophysiology; neural circuits; neuroscience.

Figure 1.. A combination of different imaging techniques can be used to unify brain networks associated with beta rhythms in neural activity.

Schematic of a coronal section of the human brain, with the cortex in gray and a structure deep within the brain known as the basal ganglia in blue. Surface electrodes were used to record neural activity from epileptic patients undergoing surgery. This revealed which areas of the brain display rhythmic patterns of activity within the beta frequency range (13–35 Hz), represented as a yellow circle over the motor cortex. Functional MRI (fMRI) data (measurements of blood oxygen level) revealed the brain areas that showed synchronized changes in activity (orange dashed lines) with target regions. This suggests that there is a functional network of beta regions (orange circles). Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) data showed that the target regions also connect to other parts of the brain through white matter tracts, forming a structural network (blue solid lines). Finally, positron emission topography (PET) data was used to identify brain regions with high dopamine uptake. Dopamine signaling in these areas was found to align with the connectivity of beta networks (red shading).