Item-specific clustering of high gamma-band activity on theta phase during speech categorization
- 1Maastricht University
Abstract
Theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) has been proposed as a mechanism for separating neural representations in time. Although item-specific PAC has been reported, its role in perception remains unclear. Notably, previous work has shown that theta phase can bias perception, raising the question whether such biases are linked to phase-specific gamma activity. Here, we investigated whether phase-dependent perceptual biases are accompanied by item-specific theta-gamma PAC. We presented ambiguous speech sounds that could be interpreted as either /da/ or /ga/ in patients with epilepsy implanted with intracranial electrocorticography. We found that pre-stimulus theta phase predicted both the neural and perceptual response, with /da/ and /ga/ tuned channels exhibiting gamma activity clustering at distinct theta phases. These findings suggest that neural and perceptual biases stem from phase-specific pre-activation of item-specific neural representations. They demonstrate the generalizability of the theta-gamma code, shaping behavior and enhancing representational capacity.
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BibTeX
@misc{oever2026itemspecific,
title = {{Item-specific clustering of high gamma-band activity on theta phase during speech categorization}},
author = {S. Ten Oever and J. Reithler and M. E. Archila-Melendez and E. Gommer and R. Rouhl and V. Kranen-Mastenbroek and M. J. Roberts and J. Peters},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.29.762424},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762424v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Item-specific clustering of high gamma-band activity on theta phase during speech categorization
AU - S. Ten Oever
AU - J. Reithler
AU - M. E. Archila-Melendez
AU - E. Gommer
AU - R. Rouhl
AU - V. Kranen-Mastenbroek
AU - M. J. Roberts
AU - J. Peters
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.29.762424
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762424v1
AB - Theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) has been proposed as a mechanism for separating neural representations in time. Although item-specific PAC has been reported, its role in perception remains unclear. Notably, previous work has shown that theta phase can bias perception, raising the question whether such biases are linked to phase-specific gamma activity. Here, we investigated whether phase-dependent perceptual biases are accompanied by item-specific theta-gamma PAC. We presented ambiguous speech sounds that could be interpreted as either /da/ or /ga/ in patients with epilepsy implanted with intracranial electrocorticography. We found that pre-stimulus theta phase predicted both the neural and perceptual response, with /da/ and /ga/ tuned channels exhibiting gamma activity clustering at distinct theta phases. These findings suggest that neural and perceptual biases stem from phase-specific pre-activation of item-specific neural representations. They demonstrate the generalizability of the theta-gamma code, shaping behavior and enhancing representational capacity.
ER -