Study reveals a universal pattern of brain wave frequencies
Throughout the brain’s cortex, neurons are arranged in six distinctive layers, which can be readily seen with a microscope. André Bastos, assistant professor of psychology, is senior author on a study published in Nature Neuroscience detailing that these layers also show distinct patterns of electrical activity, which are consistent over many brain regions and across several animal species, including humans.
Along with colleagues from Vanderbilt, including associate professor of psychology Alex Maier and colleagues at MIT, Bastos found that in the topmost layers, neuron activity is dominated by rapid oscillations known as gamma waves. In the deeper layers, slower oscillations called alpha and beta waves predominate. The universality of these patterns suggests that these oscillations are likely playing an important role across the brain.