Long-range coordination patterns in cortex change with behavioral context

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)

Abstract

Cortical connectivity mostly stems from local axonal arborizations, suggesting coordination is strongest between nearby neurons in the range of a few hundred micrometers. Yet multi-electrode recordings of resting-state activity in macaque motor cortex show strong positive and negative spike-count covariances between neurons that are millimeters apart. Here we show that such covariance patterns naturally arise in balanced network models operating close to an instability where neurons interact via indirect connections, giving rise to long-range correlations despite short-range connections. A quantitative theory explains the observed shallow exponential decay of the width of the covariance distribution at long distances. Long-range cooperation via this mechanism is not imprinted in specific connectivity structures but rather results dynamically from the network state. As a consequence, neuronal coordination patterns are not static but can change in a state-dependent manner, which we demonstrate by comparing different behavioral epochs of a reach-to-grasp experiment.

Authors 11

1. David Dahmen

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institut Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre

2. Moritz Layer Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

3. Lukas Deutz

   University of Leeds

   Affiliation as printed

   School of Computing, University of Leeds

4. Paulina Anna Dąbrowska Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

5. Nicole Voges

   Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (INT), CNRS - Aix-Marseille University

6. Michael von Papen

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) and JARA Institut Brain Structure-Function Relationships (INM-10), Jülich Research Centre

7. Thomas G. Brochier

   Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (INT), CNRS - Aix-Marseille University

8. Alexa Riehle

   Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (INT), CNRS - Aix-Marseille University

9. Markus Diesmann Aachen Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics School of Medicine

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University

10. Sonja Grün Aachen Theoretical Systems Neurobiology

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Theoretical Systems Neurobiology, RWTH Aachen University

11. Moritz Helias Aachen Department of Physics Faculty 1

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics, Faculty 1, RWTH Aachen University