Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Traveling waves (TWs) are a hallmark of cortical dynamics, proposed to organize neuronal activity across space and time. Yet their propagation can oppose the causal flow of information, challenging their functional interpretation. We demonstrate this using computational simulations and validate our predictions in electrophysiological recordings. We introduce the Directional Information Flow Field (DIFF), which adapts Granger causality to two-dimensional neural recordings to map directed interactions across cortical networks. In computational models, DIFF recovers the direction and sources of information flow, whereas delays and inhibition can cause TWs to propagate in opposing or orthogonal directions. We validate these findings in human and non-human primate electrophysiological recordings, revealing reversed or orthogonal flow axes, distinct spatial origins, and frequency-dependent differences in feedforward and feedback dynamics. These findings challenge the functional interpretation of TWs and establish DIFF as a complementary framework for revealing directed neural communication underlying cortical dynamics.
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de recherche cerveau et cognition, Université de Toulouse, University of Helsinki, University of Cambridge, Catholic University of the Maule, HiLIFE – Elämäntieteiden Instituutti, Institute of Integrated Research, Institute of Science Tokyo, Aix-Marseille Université, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Centre for Neuroscience
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: From spatial relationships to temporal correlations: New vistas on predictive coding, G3928505040, G4516721171, A Predictive Coding Perspective of Brain Dynamics: the case of Oscillatory Travelling Waves, EXPOSICION A AGROQUIMICOS Y EFECTOS EN EL AROUSAL,LA ATENCION Y LA EXCITABILIDAD CORTICAL EN POBLACION OCUPACIONAL DE LA REGION DEL MAULE, EXPOSICION AMBIENTAL A PLAGUICIDAS Y EFECTOS NEUROCONDUCTUALES Y NEUROFISIOLOGICOS EN ADULTOS DE COMUNIDADES RURALES DE LA REGION DEL MAULE CHILE., Disentangling the cortical mechanisms of prediction error communication
OpenAlex ID: W7204183549