Search

Encoding of visual information is a necessary requirement for most types of episodic memories. In search for a neural signature of memory formation, amplitude modulation of neural activity has been repeatedly shown to correlate with and suggested to be functionally involved in successful memory encoding. We here report a complementary view on why and how brain activity relates to memory, indicating a functional role of cortico-ocular interactions for episodic memory formation. Recording simultaneous magnetoencephalography and eye tracking in 35 human participants, we demonstrate that gaze variability and amplitude modulations of alpha/beta oscillations (10-20 Hz) in visual cortex covary and predict subsequent memory performance between and within participants. Amplitude variation during pre-stimulus baseline was associated with gaze direction variability, echoing the co-variation observed during scene encoding. We conclude that encoding of visual information engages unison coupling between oculomotor and visual areas in the service of memory formation.

An auditory cue is presented via circular array of speakers around participants head. Participants are asked to maintain the position of the cue for 2-3 seconds. After this, a new stimulus "ba" or "da" is presented at the cued location/speaker. Participants are asked to indicate via button press whether "ba"-left hand or "da"-right hand is presented at the cued location. Brain activity is monitored by high density EEG-256 electrodes.

Data release that accompanies Staudigl et al., Science Advances 2022

Humans and other primates explore visual scenes by active sensing , using saccadic eye movements to relocate the fovea and sample different bits of information multiple times per second. Recent reports indicate that saccades induce a phase reset of ongoing neuronal oscillations in a distributed network including primary and higher-order visual cortices and medial temporal lobe. As a result, neuron ensembles in these regions are shifted to a momentary high excitability state at the time visual input enters the system; i.e., just after fixation; among other things, this would amplify the neuronal response to visual input. The extent of the brain’s circuitry modulated by saccades is not yet known. Here, we evaluate the possibility that saccadic phase reset impacts the anterior nuclei of the thalamus (ANT) using field potential recordings in the ANT in three surgical patients undergoing deep brain stimulation for treatment of epilepsy. Given that ANT are strongly connected to frontal/prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and cingulate cortex - brain networks that support active sensing, we hypothesized that ANT would display similar saccade-related modulation of excitability. In all three patients, we found saccade-related phase concentration, peaking at 3-4 Hz, coincident with suppression of Broadband High frequency Activity (BHA; 70-150Hz), a signal that correlates with local neuronal spiking activity. Our results provide evidence for saccade-related modulation of neuronal excitability dynamics in the ANT, consistent with the idea that these nuclei are part of the brain circuitry underlying visual active sensing.