Cortical isolation separates rhythmic synchrony from network integration in the human neocortex.
- 1HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences
Abstract
Human cortical activity reflects interactions between local recurrent circuits and distributed brain-wide inputs, but how these contributions shape cortical dynamics remains unclear. We compared oscillatory and single unit activity in laminar recordings from the same human cortical regions in eight patients across wakefulness, NREM sleep, and acute slices after surgical isolation. Gamma-band spike-field synchronization increased from wakefulness to sleep and isolated cortex, whereas population coupling, putative connectivity, network integration, and dynamical dimensionality declined. Laminar gamma sink-source organization persisted in isolation, indicating the presence of local gamma-generating mechanisms. Integration with histological data showed preserved tissue architecture, while neuronal density predicted population integration in vivo but not after isolation. Removing long-range inputs thus did not suppress cortical activity but shifted its organization toward stronger rhythmic coordination and reduced integration. Our findings suggest that neocortical microcircuits intrinsically generate coherent gamma activity, whereas network embedding supports the diverse, high-dimensional dynamics of the intact cortex.
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BibTeX
@misc{bod2026cortical,
title = {{Cortical isolation separates rhythmic synchrony from network integration in the human neocortex.}},
author = {R. Bod and K. Toth and O. Farkas and Y. Michaeli and K. Z. Toth and A. Kandracs and K. T. Hofer and D. Fabo and B. Hajnal and S. P. Johanna and L. Eross and E. Laszlo and I. Ulbert and L. Wittner},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.02.748777},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.748777v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cortical isolation separates rhythmic synchrony from network integration in the human neocortex.
AU - R. Bod
AU - K. Toth
AU - O. Farkas
AU - Y. Michaeli
AU - K. Z. Toth
AU - A. Kandracs
AU - K. T. Hofer
AU - D. Fabo
AU - B. Hajnal
AU - S. P. Johanna
AU - L. Eross
AU - E. Laszlo
AU - I. Ulbert
AU - L. Wittner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.02.748777
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.748777v1
AB - Human cortical activity reflects interactions between local recurrent circuits and distributed brain-wide inputs, but how these contributions shape cortical dynamics remains unclear. We compared oscillatory and single unit activity in laminar recordings from the same human cortical regions in eight patients across wakefulness, NREM sleep, and acute slices after surgical isolation. Gamma-band spike-field synchronization increased from wakefulness to sleep and isolated cortex, whereas population coupling, putative connectivity, network integration, and dynamical dimensionality declined. Laminar gamma sink-source organization persisted in isolation, indicating the presence of local gamma-generating mechanisms. Integration with histological data showed preserved tissue architecture, while neuronal density predicted population integration in vivo but not after isolation. Removing long-range inputs thus did not suppress cortical activity but shifted its organization toward stronger rhythmic coordination and reduced integration. Our findings suggest that neocortical microcircuits intrinsically generate coherent gamma activity, whereas network embedding supports the diverse, high-dimensional dynamics of the intact cortex.
ER -