TY - JOUR T1 - Theta synchrony is increased near neural populations that are active when initiating instructed movement JF - eneuro JO - eNeuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0252-20.2020 SP - ENEURO.0252-20.2020 AU - Ashwin G. Ramayya AU - Andrew I. Yang AU - Vivek P. Buch AU - John F. Burke AU - Andrew G. Richardson AU - Cameron Brandon AU - Joel M. Stein AU - Kathryn A. Davis AU - H. Isaac Chen AU - Alexander Proekt AU - Max B. Kelz AU - Brian Litt AU - Joshua I Gold AU - Timothy H. Lucas Y1 - 2020/12/18 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2020/12/18/ENEURO.0252-20.2020.abstract N2 - Theta oscillations (3—8 Hz) in the human brain have been linked to perception, cognitive control and spatial memory, but their relation to the motor system is less clear. We tested the hypothesis that theta oscillations coordinate distributed behaviorally relevant neural representations when initiating voluntary movement using intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) recordings from 9 patients (n = 490 electrodes) as they performed a simple instructed movement task. Using high frequency activity (70-200 Hz) as a marker of local spiking activity, we identified electrodes that were positioned near neural populations that showed increased activity during instruction and movement. We found that theta synchrony was widespread throughout the brain but was increased near regions that showed movement-related increases in neural activity. These results support the view that theta oscillations are a general property of brain activity that may also have a specific role in coordinating widespread neural activity when initiating voluntary movement.New and Noteworthy: Whereas theta oscillations in the human brain have been extensively related to a wide range of perceptual and cognitive functions, there is only limited data linking theta oscillations to motor systems. In this study, we use intracranial EEG to show that theta oscillations (3—8 Hz) are widespread throughout the brain but further increased near movement-related neural populations during instructed movement. Our results provide a link between theta oscillations and motor systems. ER -