State-dependent emergence of coupling between oscillatory and aperiodic neural activity

Strong coupling between oscillatory frequency and aperiodic exponent is sporadic and state-dependent, appearing in only <13% of intracranial contacts per band in 61 awake subjects.

• Why it matters: The link between rhythmic and non-rhythmic neural activity is unclear despite both reflecting shared circuit dynamics, limiting how we interpret mesoscopic brain states.
• What they did: Using bias-reduced analyses of 3,245 intracranial contacts, they quantified coupling per frequency band and tested a connectome-constrained dynamical model with three independent perturbation experiments.
• The result: The model and experiments indicate local inhibitory feedback drives covariation, while changing inputs or removing long-range connections does not; coupling emerges during seizures that shift local excitatory–inhibitory balance.

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