Processes and measurements: a framework for understanding neural oscillations in field potentials

Sander van Bree; Daniel Levenstein; Matthew R Krause; Bradley Voytek; Richard Gao

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.12.003

Processes and measurements: a framework for understanding neural oscillations in field potentials

Trends Cogn Sci. 2025 Jan 2:S1364-6613(24)00324-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.12.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sander van Bree¹, Daniel Levenstein², Matthew R Krause³, Bradley Voytek⁴, Richard Gao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
² MILA - Quebec AI Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada; Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
³ Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Department of Cognitive Science, Halıcıŏglu Data Science Institute, Kavli Institute for Brain & Mind, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁵ Machine Learning in Science, Excellence Cluster Machine Learning and Tübingen AI Center, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39753446
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.12.003

Abstract

Various neuroscientific theories maintain that brain oscillations are important for neuronal computation, but opposing views claim that these macroscale dynamics are 'exhaust fumes' of more relevant processes. Here, we approach the question of whether oscillations are functional or epiphenomenal by distinguishing between measurements and processes, and by reviewing whether causal or inferentially useful links exist between field potentials, electric fields, and neurobiological events. We introduce a vocabulary for the role of brain signals and their underlying processes, demarcating oscillations as a distinct entity where both processes and measurements can exhibit periodicity. Leveraging this distinction, we suggest that electric fields, oscillating or not, are causally and computationally relevant, and that field potential signals can carry information even without causality.

Keywords: causality; conceptual analysis; electrophysiology; local field potential; measurement; neural oscillations; process.

Publication types

Review