Phase-Amplitude Coupling and Long-Range Phase Synchronization Reveal Frontotemporal Interactions during Visual Working Memory

Abstract

It has been suggested that cross-frequency phase-amplitude coupling (PAC), particularly in temporal brain structures, serves as a neural mechanism for coordinated working memory storage. In this magnetoencephalography study, we show that during visual working memory maintenance, temporal cortex regions, which exhibit enhanced PAC, interact with prefrontal cortex via enhanced low-frequency phase synchronization. Healthy human participants were engaged in a visual delayed match-to-sample task with pictures of natural objects. During the delay period, we observed increased spectral power of beta (20-28 Hz) and gamma (40-94 Hz) bands as well as decreased power of theta/alpha band (7-9 Hz) oscillations in visual sensory areas. Enhanced PAC between the phases of theta/alpha and the amplitudes of beta oscillations was found in the left inferior temporal cortex (IT), an area known to be involved in visual object memory. Furthermore, the IT was functionally connected to the prefrontal cortex by increased low-frequency phase synchronization within the theta/alpha band. Together, these results point to a mechanism in which the combination of PAC and long-range phase synchronization subserves enhanced large-scale brain communication. They suggest that distant brain regions might coordinate their activity in the low-frequency range to engage local stimulus-related processing in higher frequencies via the combination of long-range, within-frequency phase synchronization and local cross-frequency PAC.