Linking local and large-scale salient events with oscillatory and broadband arrhythmic activities in the resting human brain.

Overview

1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Centro Atómico Bariloche, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
2. Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Dublin, Ireland
3. Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems, National Research Council (CNR), Pozzuoli, Italy
4. University of Naples Parthenope, Department of Motor Science and Wellness, Naples, Italy
5. Center for Brain and Cognition, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
6. Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS), INSERM, Aix-Marseille Universitè, Marseille, France
7. Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope, Dipartimento delle Scienze Mediche, Motorie e del Benessere, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton, Napoli, Italy

Abstract

Narrowband oscillations (NOs) and broadband arrhythmic activity (BAA) are valuable conceptualizations extensively used to interpret brain data, with NOs linked to communication and synchronization and BAA encompassing scale-free dynamics and neuronal avalanches. Although both frameworks offer critical insights into brain function, they have largely evolved in parallel, with limited integration and no unifying mechanistic account of how these dynamics interact to generate transient, salient events (SEs). This gap is particularly pressing given recent interest in how SEs—brief (≈100 ms) bursts of activity coordinated across brain regions—relate to large-scale brain function and cognition. To address this, we introduce a signal-level framework that links the Fourier spectral properties (oscillation-domain) of neural signals to the emergence of realistic SEs in the time-domain from NOs and BAA. Our approach is grounded in a novel concept—spectral group delay consistency (SGDC)—along with associated measures that quantify the temporal alignment of spectral components and capture the conditions under which NOs and BAA coalesce into transient, burst-like events. Unlike traditional power- or phase-based measures, or higher-order statistical metrics such as kurtosis and cokurtosis, SGDC provides a signal-level mechanistic account of how local and large-scale SEs emerge from the spectral structure of the underlying signals. Empirical validation is provided using source-reconstructed MEG data from a large cohort and a comprehensive array of features characterizing the statistical, spatiotemporal, and spectral properties of observed SEs. We found that the SEs identified in our empirical MEG dataset can be segregated based on their spectral signature in two main groups having different propagation patterns. Using generative models based on the SGDC mechanism, we provide a theoretical framework to interpret these experimental results showing that cluster 2 events are specifically related to the long-range spread of narrowband alpha bursts across the brain network (i.e., SNEs: salient network events), whereas cluster 1 events correspond to more short-lived and spatially localized fluctuations mainly promoted by the BAA (i.e., SLEs: salient local events). We also provide analytical arguments and numerical simulations showing that (a) high SGDC in specific narrow frequency bands, (b) transient cross-regional coherent Nos, and (c) BAA are all key ingredients for the emergence of realistic SNEs.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

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Data

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Data and Code Availability

The MEG data are available upon request to the corresponding author (Pierpaolo Sorrentino), conditional on appropriate ethics approval at the local site. The availability of the data was not previously included in the ethical approval, and, therefore, data cannot be shared directly. In case data are requested, the corresponding author will request an amendment to the local ethical committee. Conditional to approval, the data will be made available. The code and simulated data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (Damián Dellavale), upon reasonable request. We are willing to provide technical support to investigators who express an interest in implementing the SGDC tools in other programming languages, integrate it in open-source software toolboxes, or use it for non-profit research activities.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 5 authors, 6 keywords, 2 funders, 69 references.

Cite

This paper

Dellavale, D., Lopez, E. T., Romano, A., Rabuffo, G., & Sorrentino, P. (2026). Linking local and large-scale salient events with oscillatory and broadband arrhythmic activities in the resting human brain. Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.), 4, IMAG.a.1193. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag.a.1193

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