Neural assemblies coordinated by cortical waves are associated with waking and hallucinatory brain states
Adeeti Aggarwal,
Jennifer Luo,
Helen Chung,
Diego Contreras,
Max B. Kelz,
Alex Proekt
Affiliations
Adeeti Aggarwal
Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA; Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Jennifer Luo
School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Helen Chung
The College of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Diego Contreras
Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA; Mahoney Institute for Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Max B. Kelz
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Mahoney Institute for Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Center for the Neuroscience of Unconsciousness and Reanimation Research Alliance (NEURRAL), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Alex Proekt
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Mahoney Institute for Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Center for the Neuroscience of Unconsciousness and Reanimation Research Alliance (NEURRAL), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: The relationship between sensory stimuli and perceptions is brain-state dependent: in wakefulness, suprathreshold stimuli evoke perceptions; under anesthesia, perceptions are abolished; and during dreaming and in dissociated states, percepts are internally generated. Here, we exploit this state dependence to identify brain activity associated with internally generated or stimulus-evoked perceptions. In awake mice, visual stimuli phase reset spontaneous cortical waves to elicit 3–6 Hz feedback traveling waves. These stimulus-evoked waves traverse the cortex and entrain visual and parietal neurons. Under anesthesia as well as during ketamine-induced dissociation, visual stimuli do not disrupt spontaneous waves. Uniquely, in the dissociated state, spontaneous waves traverse the cortex caudally and entrain visual and parietal neurons, akin to stimulus-evoked waves in wakefulness. Thus, coordinated neuronal assemblies orchestrated by traveling cortical waves emerge in states in which perception can manifest. The awake state is privileged in that this coordination is reliably elicited by external visual stimuli.
