Development of Sensory Gamma Oscillations and Cross-Frequency Coupling from Childhood to Early Adulthood

Abstract

Given the importance of gamma oscillations in normal and disturbed cognition, there has been growing interest in their developmental trajectory. In the current study, age-related changes in sensory cortical gamma were studied using the auditory steady-state response (ASSR), indexing cortical activity entrained to a periodic auditory stimulus. A large sample (n = 188) aged 8-22 years had electroencephalography recording of ASSR during 20-, 30-, and 40-Hz click trains, analyzed for evoked amplitude, phase-locking factor (PLF) and cross-frequency coupling (CFC) with lower frequency oscillations. Both 40-Hz evoked power and PLF increased monotonically from 8 through 16 years, and subsequently decreased toward ages 20-22 years. CFC followed a similar pattern, with strongest age-related modulation of 40-Hz amplitude by the phase of delta oscillations. In contrast, the evoked power, PLF and CFC for the 20- and 30-Hz stimulation were distinct from the 40-Hz condition, with flat or decreasing profiles from childhood to early adulthood. The inverted U-shaped developmental trajectory of gamma oscillations may be consistent with interacting maturational processes-such as increasing fast GABA inhibition that enhances gamma activity and synaptic pruning that decreases gamma activity-that may continue from childhood through to adulthood.

Pathophysiological implication of CaV3.1 T-type Ca2+channels in trigeminal neuropathic pain

“…Indeed, CFC has been proposed to be an effective mechanism in combining network activity with sensory processing (44)(45)(46). Significantly different CFC patterns between low-frequency rhythms and gamma rhythm were found within the S1 cortex following IoN ligations in WT, compared with KO mice (Fig.…”

Mapping the Consequences of Impaired Synaptic Plasticity in Schizophrenia through Development: An Integrative Model for Diverse Clinical Features

“…Conversely, abnormalities in gamma oscillations or brain activation and connectivity involving late-maturing regions (e.g. prefrontal cortex) would not be expected to be reliably observed until later in adolescence or early adulthood in pre-schizophrenia individuals, given their protracted development [54,190]. An initial study identified deficits in the MMN response among adolescents and young adults who subsequently developed schizophrenia [191].…”

Theta, beta and gamma rate modulations in the developing auditory system

“…In addition, a recent neurophysiological study demonstrated that developmental changes to brainstem components were found to continue past the age of five years (Skoe et al, 2013). Apart from functional and structural changes in development, neurochemical changes in, e.g., GABA inhibition might in part cause the observed maturational differences (Cho et al, 2013).…”

“…Differences between age groups in response amplitude at theta rates might indicate maturational changes in synaptic activity, which in turn can be the consequence of anatomical changes. Decreases and increases in white and gray matter thickness from childhood into early adulthood have been suggested to account for changes in response amplitude (Cho et al, 2013;Skoe et al, 2013). Whitford et al (2007) demonstrated that changes in neural activity follow a similar trajectory to changes in brain structure over development, with an age-related reduction in theta power mirroring an agerelated reduction in gray matter volume.…”