Biology subjects

Daume, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Daume, J..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2019

An oscillator ensemble model of sequence learning

Learning and memorizing sequences of events is an important function of the human brain and the basis for forming expectations and making predictions. Learning is facilitated by repeating a sequence several times, causing rhythmic appearance of the individual sequence elements. This observation invites to consider the resulting multitude of rhythms as a spectral fingerprint which characterizes the respective sequence. Here we explore the implications of this perspective by developing a neurobiologically plausible computational model which captures this fingerprint by attuning an ensemble of neural oscillators. In our model, this attuning process is based on a number of oscillatory phenomena that have been observed in electrophysiological recordings of brain activity like synchronization, phase locking and reset as well as cross-frequency coupling. We compare the learning properties of the model with behavioral results from a study in human participants and observe good agreement of the errors for different levels of complexity of the sequence to be memorized. Finally, we suggest an extension of the model for processing sequences that extend over several sensory modalities.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Delta phase resetting mediates non-rhythmic temporal prediction

The phase of neural oscillatory activity aligns to the predicted onset of upcoming stimulation. Whether such phase alignments represent phase resets of underlying neural oscillations or just rhythmically evoked activity, and whether they can be observed in a rhythm-free visual context, however, remains unclear. Here, we recorded the magnetoencephalogram while participants were engaged in a temporal prediction task judging the visual or tactile reappearance of a uniformly moving stimulus. The prediction conditions were contrasted with a control condition to dissociate phase adjustments of neural oscillations from stimulus-driven activity. We observed stronger delta band inter-trial phase consistency (ITPC) in a network of sensory, parietal and frontal brain areas, but no power increase reflecting stimulus-driven or prediction-related processes. Delta ITPC further correlated with prediction performance in the cerebellum and visual cortex. Our results provide evidence that phase alignments of low-frequency neural oscillations underlie temporal predictions in a non-rhythmic visual and crossmodal context.

neuroscience↗