Luff Charlotte E, Peach Robert, Mallas Emma-Jane, Rhodes Edward, Laumann Felix, Boyden Edward S, Sharp David J, Barahona Mauricio, Grossman Nir
Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Cell Rep. 2024 Jun 25;43(6):114274. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114274. Epub 2024 May 25.
A signal mixer facilitates rich computation, which has been the building block of modern telecommunication. This frequency mixing produces new signals at the sum and difference frequencies of input signals, enabling powerful operations such as heterodyning and multiplexing. Here, we report that a neuron is a signal mixer. We found through ex vivo and in vivo whole-cell measurements that neurons mix exogenous (controlled) and endogenous (spontaneous) subthreshold membrane potential oscillations, producing new oscillation frequencies, and that neural mixing originates in voltage-gated ion channels. Furthermore, we demonstrate that mixing is evident in human brain activity and is associated with cognitive functions. We found that the human electroencephalogram displays distinct clusters of local and inter-region mixing and that conversion of the salient posterior alpha-beta oscillations into gamma-band oscillations regulates visual attention. Signal mixing may enable individual neurons to sculpt the spectrum of neural circuit oscillations and utilize them for computational operations.
信号混频器有助于进行丰富的计算，它一直是现代电信的基石。这种频率混频在输入信号的和频与差频处产生新信号，从而实现诸如外差法和复用等强大操作。在此，我们报告神经元是一种信号混频器。我们通过体外和体内全细胞测量发现，神经元会混合外源性（受控）和内源性（自发）阈下膜电位振荡，产生新的振荡频率，并且神经混频起源于电压门控离子通道。此外，我们证明混频在人类大脑活动中很明显，并且与认知功能相关。我们发现人类脑电图显示出局部和区域间混频的不同簇集，并且将显著的后部α - β振荡转换为γ波段振荡可调节视觉注意力。信号混频可能使单个神经元能够塑造神经回路振荡的频谱并将其用于计算操作。
