Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), Mainz, Germany.
MEG Unit, Brain Imaging Center, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2023 Jan 26;19(1):e1010380. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010380. eCollection 2023 Jan.
Nature relies on highly distributed computation for the processing of information in nervous systems across the entire animal kingdom. Such distributed computation can be more easily understood if decomposed into the three elementary components of information processing, i.e. storage, transfer and modification, and rigorous information theoretic measures for these components exist. However, the distributed computation is often also linked to neural dynamics exhibiting distinct rhythms. Thus, it would be beneficial to associate the above components of information processing with distinct rhythmic processes where possible. Here we focus on the storage of information in neural dynamics and introduce a novel spectrally-resolved measure of active information storage (AIS). Drawing on intracortical recordings of neural activity in ferrets under anesthesia before and after loss of consciousness (LOC) we show that anesthesia- related modulation of AIS is highly specific to different frequency bands and that these frequency-specific effects differ across cortical layers and brain regions. We found that in the high/low gamma band the effects of anesthesia result in AIS modulation only in the supergranular layers, while in the alpha/beta band the strongest decrease in AIS can be seen at infragranular layers. Finally, we show that the increase of spectral power at multiple frequencies, in particular at alpha and delta bands in frontal areas, that is often observed during LOC ('anteriorization') also impacts local information processing-but in a frequency specific way: Increases in isoflurane concentration induced a decrease in AIS in the alpha frequencies, while they increased AIS in the delta frequency range < 2Hz. Thus, the analysis of spectrally-resolved AIS provides valuable additional insights into changes in cortical information processing under anaesthesia.
自然界依赖于高度分布式的计算来处理整个动物王国中神经系统中的信息。如果将分布式计算分解为信息处理的三个基本组成部分，即存储、传输和修改，并且存在严格的信息论度量标准，那么这种分布式计算就更容易理解。然而，分布式计算通常也与表现出明显节律的神经动力学相关联。因此，如果可能的话，将信息处理的上述组成部分与不同的节奏过程联系起来将是有益的。在这里，我们专注于神经动力学中的信息存储，并引入了一种新的活跃信息存储（AIS）的谱分辨度量。利用麻醉前后雪貂皮层内的神经活动记录，我们发现麻醉相关的 AIS 调制对不同的频段高度特异，并且这些频段特异性的效应在皮层层和脑区之间存在差异。我们发现，在高/低伽马频段，麻醉的影响导致 AIS 仅在超颗粒层中被调制，而在阿尔法/贝塔频段，AIS 的最强减少可以在颗粒下层看到。最后，我们表明，在多个频率（特别是在前额区域的阿尔法和德尔塔波段）观察到的、通常在 LOC 期间观察到的光谱功率增加（“前化”）也会影响局部信息处理——但以特定频率的方式：异氟烷浓度的增加导致 AIS 在阿尔法频率下降低，而在小于 2Hz 的德尔塔频率范围内增加 AIS。因此，谱分辨 AIS 的分析为麻醉下皮层信息处理的变化提供了有价值的额外见解。
