Work

Single-trial characterization of frontal theta and parietal alpha oscillatory episodes during spatial navigation in humans

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Theoretical proposals and empirical findings both highlight the relevance of theta brain oscillations in human spatial navigation. However, whilst the general assumption is that the relevant theta band activity is purely oscillatory, most empirical studies fail to disentangle oscillatory episodes from wide band activity. In addition, experimental approaches often rely on averaged activity across trials and subjects, disregarding moment-to-moment fluctuations in theta activity, contingent on key aspects of the task. Here, we used novel oscillation detection approaches to investigate the dynamics of theta and alpha episodes in human subjects performing a spatial navigation task in a virtual reality environment, resolved at single-trial level. The results suggest that bouts of frontal theta oscillatory activity are related to task difficulty and access to previously encoded information, across different timescales. Parietal alpha episodes, instead, seem to anticipate successful navigational decisions and could be related to shifts in internal attention.

Source: Cerebral Cortex

DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf083

Authors: Mireia Torralba-Cuello, Angela Marti-Marca, Márta Szabina Pápai, Salvador Soto-Faraco

Institutions: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats

Language: English

Topic: Neural dynamics and brain function

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Fundação Bial

Awards: G5323143089, G7610246724, G880609580