Oscillatory activity is a pattern of rhythmic activity that can be generated within NEURAL NETWORKS either by intrinsic mechanisms within neurons, the direct interaction of adjacent neurons (see NEURON) or by the intervention of intermediate systems which lock together the firing of neurons, often at a distance from each other. (The influence of BRAINSTEM systems on the THALAMUS is an example of this—see BURST FIRING.) Oscillations are related to burst firing: BURST FIRING describes the rhythmic activity of a single neuron, OSCILLATION describes the rhythmic activity of a population of neurons. Oscillations are important in a number of ways. For examples, (1) many elements of movement depend on simple rhythmic muscular activity: the oscillatory activity of CENTRAL PATTERN GENERATORS, located in the SPINAL CORD provides that rhythm. Similarly, PACEMAKER CELLS in the heart, controlling rhythmic beating, can be described as oscillatory (see MUSCLES). (2) Oscillatory activity is important in the SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS of the HYPOTHALAMUS, involved in the regulation of CIRCADIAN RHYTHM.
(3) Oscillations in at the NEURAL ASSEMBLY level have been associated with the generation of synchronization (see SYNCHRONY/DESYNCHRONY). While there is an association between oscillation and synchrony, it appears not to be absolute: the oscillatory activity of a single neuron does not guarantee that adjacent neurons will be synchronized to that pattern of activity. (4) Oscillations have also been associated with information processing. It has been suggested that the coding of information by the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM is dependent on the synchronization of neurons, and that oscillatory activity is one means for binding these neurons functionally together (see Singer, 1996).
References
Singer W. (1996) Neuronal synchronization: a solution to the binding problem? In The Mind-Brain Continuum, ed. R.Llinás & P.S.Churchland, pp. 101–130, MIT Press: Cambridge MA.
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