Narrowband oscillations from asynchronous neural activity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that narrowband neural oscillations can arise from asynchronous, independent neurons if they fire quasi-periodically, challenging the assumption that synchrony is necessary for oscillation generation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for neural rhythmogenesis showing oscillations can emerge without synchrony, based on quasi-periodic firing of asynchronous neurons.

Findings

Asynchronous neurons can produce narrowband oscillations if firing is quasi-periodic.

Bounds on spike-timing variability allow oscillation emergence.

Oscillations do not necessarily indicate neural synchrony.

Abstract

We investigate the possibility that narrowband oscillations may emerge from completely asynchronous, independent neural firing. We find that a population of asynchronous neurons may produce narrowband oscillations if each neuron fires quasi-periodically, and we deduce bounds on the degree of variability in neural spike-timing which will permit the emergence of such oscillations. These results suggest a novel mechanism of neural rhythmogenesis, and they help to explain recent experimental reports of large-amplitude local field potential oscillations in the absence of neural spike-timing synchrony. Simply put, although synchrony can produce oscillations, oscillations do not always imply the existence of synchrony.