Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Mar 9;18(3):e1009407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009407. eCollection 2022 Mar.
Performing a cognitive task requires going through a sequence of functionally diverse stages. Although it is typically assumed that these stages are characterized by distinct states of cortical synchrony that are triggered by sub-cortical events, little reported evidence supports this hypothesis. To test this hypothesis, we first identified cognitive stages in single-trial MEG data of an associative recognition task, showing with a novel method that each stage begins with local modulations of synchrony followed by a state of directed functional connectivity. Second, we developed the first whole-brain model that can simulate cortical synchrony throughout a task. The model suggests that the observed synchrony is caused by thalamocortical bursts at the onset of each stage, targeted at cortical synapses and interacting with the structural anatomical connectivity. These findings confirm that cognitive stages are defined by distinct states of cortical synchrony and explains the network-level mechanisms necessary for reaching stage-dependent synchrony states.
执行认知任务需要经历一系列功能不同的阶段。尽管通常假定这些阶段的特征是由皮质下事件引发的不同的皮质同步状态，但很少有报道的证据支持这一假设。为了检验这一假设，我们首先在一个联想识别任务的单次试验 MEG 数据中识别出认知阶段，使用一种新方法表明，每个阶段都以同步的局部调制开始，然后是定向功能连接的状态。其次，我们开发了第一个可以模拟整个任务中皮质同步的全脑模型。该模型表明，观察到的同步是由每个阶段开始时的丘脑皮质爆发引起的，针对皮质突触，并与结构解剖连接相互作用。这些发现证实了认知阶段是由皮质同步的不同状态定义的，并解释了达到阶段依赖的同步状态所需的网络级机制。
