No Consistent Relationship between Gamma Power and Peak Frequency in Macaque Primary Visual Cortex

Neural activity in the gamma frequency range (“gamma”) is elevated during active cognitive states. Gamma has been proposed to play an important role in cortical function, although this is debated. Understanding what function gamma might fulfill requires a better understanding of its properties and the mechanisms that generate it. Gamma is characterized by its spectral power and peak frequency, and variations in both parameters have been associated with changes in behavioral performance. Modeling studies suggest these properties are co-modulated, but this has not been established. To test the relationship between these properties, we measured local field potentials (LFPs) and neuronal spiking responses in primary visual cortex of anesthetized monkeys, for drifting sinusoidal gratings of different sizes, contrasts, orientations and masked with different levels of noise. We find that there is no fixed relationship between LFP gamma power and peak frequency, and neither is related to the strength of spiking activity. We propose a simple model that can account for the complex stimulus dependence we observe, and suggest that separate mechanisms determine gamma power and peak frequency.