Biomedical subjects

Maria G Knyazeva

Publications and source records attributed to Maria G Knyazeva.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Interhemispheric integration at different spatial scales: the evidence from EEG coherence and FMRI.

The early visual system processes different spatial frequencies (SFs) separately. To examine where in the brain the scale-specific information is integrated, we mapped the neural assemblies engaged in interhemispheric coupling with electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence and blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal. During similar EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, our subjects viewed centrally presented bilateral gratings of different SF (0.25-8.0 cpd), which either obeyed Gestalt grouping rules (iso-oriented, IG) or violated them (orthogonally oriented, OG). The IG stimuli (0.5-4.0 cpd) synchronized EEG at discrete beta frequencies (beta1, beta2) and increased BOLD (0.5 and 2.0 cpd tested) in ventral (around collateral sulcus) and dorsal (parieto-occipital fissure) regions compared with OG. At both SF, the beta1 coherence correlated with the ventral activations, whereas the beta2 coherence correlated with the dorsal ones. Thus distributed neural substrates mediated interhemispheric integration at single SF. The relative impact of the ventral versus dorsal networks was modulated by the SF of the stimulus.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Imaging of a synchronous neuronal assembly in the human visual brain.

Perception, motion, and cognition involve the formation of cooperative neuronal assemblies distributed over the cerebral cortex. It remains to explore what characterizes the assemblies, their location, and the structural substrate of assembly formation. In this EEG/fMRI study, we describe the response of the visual areas of the two hemispheres in subjects who viewed bilateral iso-oriented (IG) or orthogonally-oriented (OG) moving gratings projected in the two hemifields. The IG stimulus synchronized activity across the hemispheres, as shown by an increased EEG coherence. The increase was restricted to the occipital electrodes and to the beta band. Compared with OG, IG increased the BOLD signal in a restricted territory corresponding to area VP/V4. Within this territory, a linear relation was found between the increased interhemispheric EEG coherence and BOLD. Thus, the increased BOLD localized a trans-hemispheric, synchronous neuronal assembly probably achieved by a callosal cortico-cortical connection. This assembly might reflect an early stage of perceptual grouping since the IG stimulus conforms to Gestalt psychology principles of collinearity and common fate.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Assessment of EEG synchronization based on state-space analysis.

Cortical computation involves the formation of cooperative neuronal assemblies characterized by synchronous oscillatory activity. A traditional method for the identification of synchronous neuronal assemblies has been the coherence analysis of EEG signals. Here, we suggest a new method called S estimator, whereby cortical synchrony is defined from the embedding dimension in a state-space. We first validated the method on clusters of chaotic coupled oscillators and compared its performance to that of other methods for assessing synchronization. Then nine adult subjects were studied with high-density EEG recordings, while they viewed in the two hemifields (hence with separate hemispheres) identical sinusoidal gratings either arranged collinearly and moving together, or orthogonally oriented and moving at 90 degrees . The estimated synchronization increased with the collinear gratings over a cluster of occipital electrodes spanning both hemispheres, whereas over temporo-parietal regions of both hemispheres, it decreased with the same stimulus and it increased with the orthogonal gratings. Separate calculations for different EEG frequencies showed that the occipital clusters involved synchronization in the beta band and the temporal clusters in the alpha band. The gamma band appeared to be insensitive to stimulus diversity. Different stimulus configurations, therefore, appear to cause a complex rearrangement of synchronous neuronal assemblies distributed over the cortex, in particular over the visual cortex.

Adult↗