The generation and propagation of the human alpha rhythm

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1913092116
• Publication Date: 2019-11-05T01:47:44Z
• Authors: Mila Halgren; István Ulbert; Hélène Bastuji; Dániel Fabó; Lorand Erőss; Marc Rey; Orrin Devinsky; Werner K. Doyle; Rachel Mak-McCully; Eric Halgren; Lucia Wittner; Patrick Chauvel; Gary Heit; Emad Eskandar; Arnold Mandell; Sydney S. Cash
• Keywords: Cerebral Cortex; 0301 basic medicine; Alpha Rhythm; 03 medical and health sciences; BF01 Psychophysiology / pszichofiziológia; Thalamus; Humans; Electroencephalography; Electrodes

The alpha rhythm is the longest-studied brain oscillation and has been theorized to play a key role in cognition. Still, its physiology is poorly understood. In this study, we used microelectrodes and macroelectrodes in surgical epilepsy patients to measure the intracortical and thalamic generators of the alpha rhythm during quiet wakefulness. We first found that alpha in both visual and somatosensory cortex propagates from higher-order to lower-order areas. In posterior cortex, alpha propagates from higher-order anterosuperior areas toward the occipital pole, whereas alpha in somatosensory cortex propagates from associative regions toward primary cortex. Several analyses suggest that this cortical alpha leads pulvinar alpha, complicating prevailing theories of a thalamic pacemaker. Finally, alpha is dominated by currents and firing in supragranular cortical layers. Together, these results suggest that the alpha rhythm likely reflects short-range supragranular feedback, which propagates from higher- to lower-order cortex and cortex to thalamus. These physiological insights suggest how alpha could mediate feedback throughout the thalamocortical system.