Spontaneous modulations of high frequency cortical activity

ABSTRACT Objective We clarified the clinical and mechanistic significance of physiological modulations of high-frequency broadband cortical activity associated with spontaneous saccadic eye movements during a resting state. Methods We studied 30 patients who underwent epilepsy surgery following extraoperative electrocorticography and electrooculography recordings. We determined whether high-gamma activity at 70-110 Hz preceding saccade onset would predict upcoming ocular behaviors. We assessed how accurately the model incorporating saccade-related high-gamma modulations would localize the primary visual cortex defined by electrical stimulation. Results The whole-brain level dynamic atlas demonstrated transient high-gamma suppression in the striatal region before saccade onset and high-gamma augmentation subsequently involving the widespread posterior brain regions. More intense striatal high-gamma suppression predicted the upcoming saccade directed to the ipsilateral side and lasting longer in duration. The bagged-tree-ensemble model demonstrated that intense saccade-related high-gamma modulations localized the visual cortex with an accuracy of 95%. Conclusions We successfully animated the neural dynamics supporting saccadic suppression, a principal mechanism minimizing the perception of blurred vision during rapid eye movements. The primary visual cortex per se may prepare actively in advance for massive image motion expected during upcoming prolonged saccades. Significance Measuring saccade-related electrocorticographic signals may help localize the visual cortex and avoid misperceiving physiological high-frequency activity as epileptogenic. Highlights - The whole-brain level dynamic atlas animated spontaneous high gamma modulations associated with saccadic eye movements. - Preceding high gamma activity in the striatal cortex predicted the direction and duration of the upcoming saccades. - Saccade-related high-gamma modulations localized the stimulation-defined visual cortex with an accuracy of 95%.