2026-07-16 京都大学
電気信号が波の様に伝搬する「進行波」と、情報理論で定義される「情報の流れ」の同調性を評価。計算モデルvs脳および、覚醒vs麻酔状態の情報通信の違いが明らかになった。（イラスト：京大・小村研究室）
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research-news/2026-07-16-0
- https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)02106-1
覚醒時の大脳皮質は、グローバルかつ信頼性の高い情報ルーティングのために伝播波を安定化させる Awake cortex stabilizes traveling waves for global and reliable information routing
Kaio Misawa ∙ Koji Chinen ∙ Akira Kawabata ∙ Taro Kaiju ∙ Takafumi Suzuki ∙ Yutaka Komura
iScience Published:July 10, 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116728
Highlights
- In simulations, traveling waves do not guarantee directional information flow
- We propose informational tuning to reveal the fidelity of information flow via waves
- Wakefulness sharpens informational tuning compared with anesthesia
- Wave-guided information routing offers a multiscale link to theories of consciousness
Summary
How does the brain organize neural information for perception during wakefulness, yet lose such organization under anesthesia? Theories on consciousness hypothesize that perceptual experience arises from global communication across the cerebral cortex. However, the neural substrate that mediates information transfer between cortical regions remains uncertain. Here, developing large-scale and high-density electrocorticography arrays, we demonstrated that traveling waves serve as a fundamental mode for global information transfer. Compared with the anesthetized state, visual-evoked traveling waves during wakefulness exhibited greater stability. Hierarchical clustering uncovered the emergence of widespread waves with a rich repertoire of motifs only in the awake state. By quantifying the fidelity of information routing, we found that information flows more reliably along the direction of wave propagation during wakefulness than under anesthesia. This study provides meso- and macroscopic evidence consistent with theories of consciousness and introduces a framework, informational tuning, for characterizing the geometrical relations between neural and informational flows.
