Cortical activations in cognitive task performance at multiple frequency bands

Abstract Neural oscillations are fundamental for brain function and govern various cognitive processes. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging advances offer the opportunity to study frequency-specific properties of blood-oxygen-level-dependent oscillations at multiple frequency bands. However, most have focused on spontaneous brain activity in the resting state, leaving a gap in direct evidence regarding the specific activations of cognitive tasks across different frequency bands. We aim to address this gap by exploring the role of blood-oxygen-level-dependent oscillations across multiple frequency bands in cognitive processes. We used task-functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 339 healthy young adults from the Human Connectome Project to map the activation patterns of performing seven cognitive tasks at multiple frequency bands (ie slow-1 to slow-6). Our findings revealed that different frequency bands are associated with distinct task-activation patterns. Specifically, slow-1/2/3 oscillations primarily contribute to local sensory information processing, while slow-4 is crucial for various fundamental cognitive functions. Slow-5 is involved in cognitive processes that require greater memory load, integrated cognitive processing, and attention maintenance. This underscores the importance of analyzing a broad frequency range to capture the full spectrum of cognitive function, highlighting the diverse roles of different frequency bands in brain activity, shedding light on the underlying mechanism of brain–behavior associations.