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Peer-reviewedCC BYPLoS Biology

Human neuronal firing varies with the frequency of local field potential oscillations

  • Zahra Jourahmad1
  • Raissa K. Mathura1
  • Layth S. Mattar1
  • Melissa C. Franch1
  • Danika Lea Paulo1
  • Mohammed Hasen1
  • Nicole R. Provenza1,2,3
  • Benjamin Y. Hayden1,3
  • Sameer Anil Sheth1,3
  • Eleonora Bartoli1,3
  • Andrew J. Watrous1,3
  1. 1Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Houston, TX
  2. 2Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX
  3. 3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX
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Abstract

Neural oscillations play a critical role in shaping neuronal firing patterns. While phase-locked neuronal firing ("phase tuning") has been extensively studied in animal models and human invasive recordings, much less is known about whether neurons show preferential firing at specific oscillatory frequencies, termed frequency tuning. Here, we employ human intracranial recordings across several brain regions including hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex to test the hypothesis that neurons exhibit frequency-specific firing. We analyzed 357 single units recorded simultaneously with local field potentials in 19 neurosurgical patients during awake resting. We estimated the instantaneous frequency of the LFP using adaptive spectral decomposition and assessed frequency tuning of each neuron while controlling for changes in firing rate unrelated to frequency changes. We found 27% neurons exhibited increased or decreased firing within specific frequencies, most commonly within the low-theta range (<10 Hz). Neurons exhibiting frequency tuning were distinct from those displaying phase tuning, and both types of tuning were observed across multiple brain regions with no anatomical preference. Together, our results demonstrate that the instantaneous frequency of neural oscillations modulates neuronal firing which may serve as an additional mechanism for information processing in the human brain, opening new avenues for frequency-targeted neural stimulation.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{jourahmad2026human,
  title = {{Human neuronal firing varies with the frequency of local field potential oscillations}},
  author = {Zahra Jourahmad and Raissa K. Mathura and Layth S. Mattar and Melissa C. Franch and Danika Lea Paulo and Mohammed Hasen and Nicole R. Provenza and Benjamin Y. Hayden and Sameer Anil Sheth and Eleonora Bartoli and Andrew J. Watrous},
  journal = {PLoS Biology},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3003818},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003818},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Human neuronal firing varies with the frequency of local field potential oscillations
AU  - Zahra Jourahmad
AU  - Raissa K. Mathura
AU  - Layth S. Mattar
AU  - Melissa C. Franch
AU  - Danika Lea Paulo
AU  - Mohammed Hasen
AU  - Nicole R. Provenza
AU  - Benjamin Y. Hayden
AU  - Sameer Anil Sheth
AU  - Eleonora Bartoli
AU  - Andrew J. Watrous
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/23
JO  - PLoS Biology
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003818
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003818
AB  - Neural oscillations play a critical role in shaping neuronal firing patterns. While phase-locked neuronal firing ("phase tuning") has been extensively studied in animal models and human invasive recordings, much less is known about whether neurons show preferential firing at specific oscillatory frequencies, termed frequency tuning. Here, we employ human intracranial recordings across several brain regions including hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex to test the hypothesis that neurons exhibit frequency-specific firing. We analyzed 357 single units recorded simultaneously with local field potentials in 19 neurosurgical patients during awake resting. We estimated the instantaneous frequency of the LFP using adaptive spectral decomposition and assessed frequency tuning of each neuron while controlling for changes in firing rate unrelated to frequency changes. We found 27% neurons exhibited increased or decreased firing within specific frequencies, most commonly within the low-theta range (<10 Hz). Neurons exhibiting frequency tuning were distinct from those displaying phase tuning, and both types of tuning were observed across multiple brain regions with no anatomical preference. Together, our results demonstrate that the instantaneous frequency of neural oscillations modulates neuronal firing which may serve as an additional mechanism for information processing in the human brain, opening new avenues for frequency-targeted neural stimulation.
SN  - 1544-9173
SN  - 1545-7885
ER  -