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Intracranial recordings reveal ubiquitous in‐phase and in‐antiphase functional connectivity between homotopic brain regions in humans
Author(s) -
O’Reilly Christian,
Elsabbagh Mayada
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.24748
Subject(s) - neuroscience , functional connectivity , electrophysiology , lag , computer science , physics , psychology , computer network
Whether neuronal populations exhibit zero‐lag (in‐phase or in‐antiphase) functional connectivity is a fundamental question when conceptualizing communication between cell assemblies. It also has profound implications on how we assess such interactions. Given that the brain is a delayed network due to the finite conduction velocity of the electrical impulses traveling across its fibers, the existence of long‐distance zero‐lag functional connectivity may be considered improbable. However, in this study, using human intracranial recordings we demonstrate that most interhemispheric connectivity between homotopic cerebral regions is zero‐lagged and that this type of connectivity is ubiquitous. Volume conduction can be safely discarded as a confounding factor since it is known to drop almost completely within short interelectrode distances (<20 mm) in intracranial recordings. This finding should guide future electrophysiological connectivity studies and highlight the importance of considering the role of zero‐lag connectivity in our understanding of communication between cell assemblies.