Jacob Donoghue, MD PhD

Jacob Donoghue, MD PhD

Boston, Massachusetts, United States
4K followers 500+ connections

Join to view profile

Experience

Education

Publications

  • Different Levels of Category Abstraction by Different Dynamics in Different Prefrontal Areas

    Neuron

    Categories can be grouped by shared sensory attributes (i.e., cats) or a more abstract rule (i.e., animals). We explored the neural basis of abstraction by recording from multi-electrode arrays in prefrontal cortex (PFC) while monkeys performed a dot-pattern categorization task. Category abstraction was varied by the degree of exemplar distortion from the prototype pattern. Different dynamics in different PFC regions processed different levels of category abstraction. Bottom-up dynamics…

    Categories can be grouped by shared sensory attributes (i.e., cats) or a more abstract rule (i.e., animals). We explored the neural basis of abstraction by recording from multi-electrode arrays in prefrontal cortex (PFC) while monkeys performed a dot-pattern categorization task. Category abstraction was varied by the degree of exemplar distortion from the prototype pattern. Different dynamics in different PFC regions processed different levels of category abstraction. Bottom-up dynamics (stimulus-locked gamma power and spiking) in the ventral PFC processed more low-level abstractions, whereas top-down dynamics (beta power and beta spike-LFP coherence) in the dorsal PFC processed more high-level abstractions. Our results suggest a two-stage, rhythm-based model for abstracting categories.

    See publication

  • A Novel Method for 3-Dimensional Printing a Brain That Feels and Looks Like One: The Next Step in the Search of the Perfect Neurosurgical Simulator

    World Neurosurgery

    See publication

  • Rapid fragmentation of neuronal networks at the onset of propofol-induced unconsciousness

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

    The neurophysiological mechanisms by which anesthetic drugs cause loss of consciousness are poorly understood. Anesthetic actions at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels have been studied in detail at steady states of deep general anesthesia. However, little is known about how anesthetics alter neural activity during the transition into unconsciousness. We recorded simultaneous multiscale neural activity from human cortex, including ensembles of single neurons, local field potentials…

    The neurophysiological mechanisms by which anesthetic drugs cause loss of consciousness are poorly understood. Anesthetic actions at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels have been studied in detail at steady states of deep general anesthesia. However, little is known about how anesthetics alter neural activity during the transition into unconsciousness. We recorded simultaneous multiscale neural activity from human cortex, including ensembles of single neurons, local field potentials, and intracranial electrocorticograms, during induction of general anesthesia. We analyzed local and global neuronal network changes that occurred simultaneously with loss of consciousness. We show that propofol-induced unconsciousness occurs within seconds of the abrupt onset of a slow (<1 Hz) oscillation in the local field potential. This oscillation marks a state in which cortical neurons maintain local patterns of network activity, but this activity is fragmented across both time and space. Local (<4 mm) neuronal populations maintain the millisecond-scale connectivity patterns observed in the awake state, and spike rates fluctuate and can reach baseline levels. However, neuronal spiking occurs only within a limited slow oscillation-phase window and is silent otherwise, fragmenting the time course of neural activity. Unexpectedly, we found that these slow oscillations occur asynchronously across cortex, disrupting functional connectivity between cortical areas. We conclude that the onset of slow oscillations is a neural correlate of propofol-induced loss of consciousness, marking a shift to cortical dynamics in which local neuronal networks remain intact but become functionally isolated in time and space.

    See publication

  • Spatiotemporal dynamics of neocortical excitation and inhibition during human sleep

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

    Intracranial recording is an important diagnostic method routinely used in a number of neurological monitoring scenarios. In recent years, advancements in such recordings have been extended to include unit activity of an ensemble of neurons. However, a detailed functional characterization of excitatory and inhibitory cells has not been attempted in human neocortex, particularly during the sleep state. Here, we report that such feature discrimination is possible from high-density recordings in…

    Intracranial recording is an important diagnostic method routinely used in a number of neurological monitoring scenarios. In recent years, advancements in such recordings have been extended to include unit activity of an ensemble of neurons. However, a detailed functional characterization of excitatory and inhibitory cells has not been attempted in human neocortex, particularly during the sleep state. Here, we report that such feature discrimination is possible from high-density recordings in the neocortex by using 2D multielectrode arrays. Successful separation of regular-spiking neurons (or bursting cells) from fast-spiking cells resulted in well-defined clusters that each showed unique intrinsic firing properties. The high density of the array, which allowed recording from a large number of cells (up to 90), helped us to identify apparent monosynaptic connections, confirming the excitatory and inhibitory nature of regular-spiking and fast-spiking cells, thus categorized as putative pyramidal cells and interneurons, respectively. Finally, we investigated the dynamics of correlations within each class. A marked exponential decay with distance was observed in the case of excitatory but not for inhibitory cells. Although the amplitude of that decline depended on the timescale at which the correlations were computed, the spatial constant did not. Furthermore, this spatial constant is compatible with the typical size of human columnar organization. These findings provide a detailed characterization of neuronal activity, functional connectivity at the microcircuit level, and the interplay of excitation and inhibition in the human neocortex.

    See publication

  • Neuroprosthetics

    Youmans Neurological Surgery, 6th Ed.

    Book chapter in leading Neurosurgery Textbook covering on the latest developments in Neuroprosthetics.

    Other authors
    • Jacob H. Bagley
    • Vasilios Zerris
    • Gerhard Friehs
    See publication

  • Single-neuron dynamics in human focal epilepsy

    Nature Neuroscience

    Epileptic seizures are traditionally characterized as the ultimate expression of monolithic, hypersynchronous neuronal activity arising from unbalanced runaway excitation. Here we report the first examination of spike train patterns in large ensembles of single neurons during seizures in persons with epilepsy. Contrary to the traditional view, neuronal spiking activity during seizure initiation and spread was highly heterogeneous, not hypersynchronous, suggesting complex interactions among…

    Epileptic seizures are traditionally characterized as the ultimate expression of monolithic, hypersynchronous neuronal activity arising from unbalanced runaway excitation. Here we report the first examination of spike train patterns in large ensembles of single neurons during seizures in persons with epilepsy. Contrary to the traditional view, neuronal spiking activity during seizure initiation and spread was highly heterogeneous, not hypersynchronous, suggesting complex interactions among different neuronal groups even at the spatial scale of small cortical patches. In contrast to earlier stages, seizure termination is a nearly homogenous phenomenon followed by an almost complete cessation of spiking across recorded neuronal ensembles. Notably, even neurons outside the region of seizure onset showed significant changes in activity minutes before the seizure. These findings suggest a revision of current thinking about seizure mechanisms and point to the possibility of seizure prevention based on spiking activity in neocortical neurons.

    See publication

View Jacob’s full profile

  • See who you know in common
  • Get introduced
  • Contact Jacob directly
Join to view full profile

Other similar profiles

Explore more posts

Explore top content on LinkedIn

Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.

View top content