Aperiodic 1/f noise drives ripple activity in humans

Abstract Sharp-wave ripples (SWR) are central for cognition and hallmark sleep in the rodent hippocampus. Recently, ripple-like activity was also observed in the human hippocampus and neocortex during wakefulness and sleep. However, ripple detection across brain states and cortical regions remains challenging. We demonstrate that putative ripples largely index noise originating from region-, state-, and demand-dependent modulation of cortical background activity. We establish the noise sensitivity for five common detection algorithms across three intracranial EEG studies during sleep and cognitive engagement. On average, 77% of awake ripples in the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, reflect false…

• DF
  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

  Awards: DFG HE8329/2-1, DFG SCHA 2369/1-1
• GH
  Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung
• JF
  Jung-Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Forschung