Information theoretic evidence for layer- and frequency-specific changes in cortical information processing under anesthesia

Nature relies on highly distributed computation for the processing of information in nervous systems across the entire animal kingdom. Such distributed computation can be more easily understood if decomposed into the three elementary components of information processing, i.e., storage, transfer and modification, and rigorous information theoretic measures for these components exist. However, the distributed computation is often also linked to neural dynamics exhibiting distinct rhythms. Thus, it would be beneficial to associate the above components of information processing with distinct rhythmic processes where possible. Here we focus on the storage of information in neural dynamics and introduce a novel spectrally-resolved measure of active information storage (AIS). Drawing on intracortical recordings of neural activity in ferrets under anesthesia before and after loss of consciousness (LOC), we show that anesthesia-related modulation of AIS is highly specific to different frequency ..., Data were recorded by K. Sellers from F. Fröhlich lab. , Local field potential recordings in prefrontal and primary visual areas of the ferrets' cortex (at Supragranular, Granular and Infragranular layer) in the awake state and after administration of isoflurane in concentrations of 0.5%, 0.75% and 1.0 %.