Hippocampal glutamate concentration predicts cerebral theta oscillations during cognitive processing.

Full Abstract

RATIONALE:
Brain waves reflect collective behavior of neurons and provide insight into distributed network processing. Frontal and hippocampal theta oscillations (4-7 Hz) were linked to cognitive tasks and animal studies have suggested an involvement of glutamatergic neurotransmission in integrative frontal-hippocampal processing. Human evidence for such relationships is lacking.

METHODS:
Here, we studied the associations between glutamate concentrations in the hippocampal region, measured by a 3-T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), and EEG theta activity during an auditory target detection paradigm.

RESULTS:
A robust relationship between hippocampal glutamate and frontal theta activity during stimulus processing was found. Moreover, frontal theta oscillations were related to response speed.

CONCLUSION:
The results suggest a functional coupling between the frontal cortex and hippocampal region during stimulus processing and support the idea of the hippocampus as a neural rhythm generator driven by glutamatergic neurotransmission. These preliminary data show, for the first time, a relationship between in vivo measured glutamate and basic cerebral information processing in humans.

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Author information

Author/s: Gallinat, J (J); Kunz, D (D); Senkowski, D (D); Kienast, T (T); Seifert, F (F); Schubert, F (F); Heinz, A (A);

Affiliation: Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (PUK im SHK), Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Campus Mitte, St. Hedwig Krankenhaus, Turmstrasse 21, 10559 Berlin, Germany. juergen.gallinat(-atsign-)charite.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychopharmacology (Psychopharmacology (Berl)), published in Germany. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jul; vol 187 (issue 1) : pp 103-11

Dates: Created 2006/06/12; Completed 2007/07/09;

PMID: 16767420, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Cognition - physiology
Female
Glutamic Acid - analysis; physiology
Hippocampus - chemistry; physiology
Humans

Associated Chemicals: Glutamic Acid (56-86-0)

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