title: Resting GABA and glutamate concentrations do not predict visual gamma frequency or amplitude.
abstract: Gamma band oscillations arise in neuronal networks of interconnected GABAergic interneurons and excitatory pyramidal cells. A previous study found a correlation between visual gamma peak frequency, as measured with magnetoencephalography, and resting GABA levels, as measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), in 12 healthy volunteers. If true, this would allow studies in clinical populations testing modulation of this relationship, but this finding has not been replicated. We addressed this important question by measuring gamma oscillations and GABA, as well as glutamate, in 50 healthy volunteers. Visual gamma activity was evoked using an established gratings paradigm, and we applied a beamformer spatial filtering technique to extract source-reconstructed gamma peak frequency and amplitude from the occipital lobe. We determined gamma peak frequency and amplitude from the location with maximal activation and from the location of the MRS voxel to assess the relationship of GABA with gamma. Gamma peak frequency was estimated from the highest value of the raw spectra and by a Gaussian fit to the spectra. MRS data were acquired from occipital cortex. We did not replicate the previously found correlation between gamma peak frequency and GABA concentration. Calculation of a Bayes factor provided strong evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. We also did not find a correlation between gamma activity and glutamate or between gamma and the ratio of GABA/glutamate. Our results suggest that cortical gamma oscillations do not have a consistent, demonstrable relationship to excitatory/inhibitory network activity as proxied by MRS measurements of GABA and glutamate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry andOxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom; helenacousijn@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cousijn
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032;Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia Program, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY 10962; and.
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haegens
authors.affiliation: Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wallis
authors.affiliation: Douglas Mental Health University Institute and Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada H4H 1R3.
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Near
authors.affiliation: Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Anna C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Nobre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D011859:Radiography; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018698:Glutamic Acid; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid