Oscillatory cortical activities in the gamma band in the human EEG induced by visual stimuli - ­representation of the stimulus?

Abstract

The present work presents three experiments investigating cortical activities in the gamma band in humans. On the basis of theoretical models and animal experiments, synchronized oscillatory neuronal activity is discussed as the key mechanism by which the brain binds information processed in different cortical areas to form a percept. Using an identical stimulation design - the same as used in animal studies - it was shown that induced gamma band responses in the EEG resemble the same features as those found in the intracortical recordings of animals. In addition, the present work demonstrates that these cortical activities are not higher harmonics of the alpha band and that they are sensitive to the features of the stimulus. These results support the notion that gamma band activity is not just a by-product of neuronal activity and that alpha- and gamma band activies most certainly represent different cortical functional states.