27 In rodents, where face-whisker representation in the somatosensory

cortex is particularly large, the μ rhythm occurs synchronously over the parietal-frontal areas during immobility.28 Sniffing induces θ phase-modulated μ patterns in the olfactory bulb and cortex with similar frequencies and temporal dynamic in multiple species.29 Figure 3. Cross-frequency coupling contributes Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to the hierarchy of brain rhythms, (a) Local field potential trace from layer 5 of the rat neocortex (1 Hz – 3 kHz) and a filtered (140-240 Hz) and rectified derivative of a trace from the hippocampal CA1 pyramidal … Hippocampal θ oscillations are perhaps the only known rhythm whose frequency scales inversely with the size of the brain. The 6- to 12-Hz θ oscillations in rodents30,31 slow down to 4 to 6 Hz In carnivores.32,33 θ frequency of all species investigated is slowest in humans (1 to 4 Hz),34-36 and its very existence has been questioned by some reports in epileptic patients.37,38 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The preservation of frequencies in the various mammalian species is an important argument in

favor of time as the most important organization principle in brain dynamics. While brain rhythms vary little across species (30% to 100%), Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical brain size increases hundreds- to thousands-fold from the smallest- to the largest-brained mammal.39 This scaling process places serious and critical constraints on brain development. While the modular neocortex can volumetrically expand multiple-fold, time-related issues appear to have fundamentally shaped brain phylogenesis. To preserve timing in the face of multiplying

cortical modules, disproportionally more long-range axonal selleck chemical pathways and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical more effective axon myelination are deployed.40 By contrast, a potential argument for the decreasing frequency Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of hippocampal θ oscillations In mammals with larger brains is that the hippocampus is a single cortical module,41,42 and its growth is limited by the axon conduction delays. Pyramidal neurons of the CA3 region of the hippocampus Innervate a very large volume of the hippocampus,41,43,44 connecting distant peer neurons and requiring long axonal lengths and, consequently, longer delays. The increasing delays may contribute to the slowing of the θ rhythm as the structure grows. It is critical to emphasize that preservation of oxyclozanide cortical rhythms across species does not reflect the brain’s inability to change timing mechanisms, and rhythms can adapt effectively according to the needs of given species. For example, central pattern generators for walking and respiratory rhythms vary according to ecological needs from 0.5/min in large aquatic mammals to 100/min in mice. Instead, the constancy of brain oscillations across species seems to reflect the importance of timing as well as an inheritance of the same coding mechanisms.