Connectionists: New on the VVTNS YouTube channel: Weak, weird, coordinated: functional transient oscillations without a metronome | Demian Battaglia CNRS, Strasbourg, France

[David Hansel]

[image: VVTNS.png]

>
> <https://84454458.streak-link.com/C85rykUPz3nG5n7mlwmlmS9u/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwtns.online>
>
https://www.wwtns.online
> <https://streaklinks.com/A9c7PbbpKY7PxB6PaAJWGD3-/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwtns.online>
> - on twitter: wwtns at TheoreticalWide  and on YouTube
>

New on the VVTNS Website and YouTube Channel
https://www.wwtns.online
<https://streaklinks.com/A9c7PbbpKY7PxB6PaAJWGD3-/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wwtns.online>


Weak, weird, coordinated: functional transient oscillations without a
metronome


lecture delivered on May 6,  2026  by

Demian Battaglia

CNRS, Strasbourg, France

*Abstract: *Neural oscillations are often proposed to support brain
computation by routing information, organizing cell assemblies, or shaping
coding dynamics. Yet these ideas usually assume rhythms that are strong,
sustained, and regular, whereas in vivo oscillations are often weak,
transient, noisy, and variable in frequency and phase. In this talk, I will
argue that such “no-metronome” oscillations are not just noisy
fluctuations, but coordinated complex dynamics with functional
consequences. Combining analyses of neural activity recordings during
actual behavior (mice and non-human-primate LFPs and human EEG) with
computational modelling, I will discuss evidence that transient oscillatory
events can carry task-relevant information and support flexible
communication through spatiotemporally structured relationships across
populations, timescales, and frequencies. Together, these results suggest
that oscillatory weakness and weirdness are not just imperfections, noise
to average-out, but part of the functional repertoire of neural computation.
.

*About VVTNS : **VVTNS  is a weekly digital seminar on Zoom targeting the
theoretical neuroscience community. Launched as the World Wide Neuroscience
Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van
Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), its aim is to be a platform to
exchange ideas among theoreticians, but not only. Speakers have the
occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be
discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of
experimentalists. The seminars  are 45 min long followed by a discussion
and are held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET. The talks are recorded with
authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube
channel.*



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transmis via / relayed via rt_neurocomp at services.cnrs.fr
cf. https://listes.services.cnrs.fr/wws/info/rt_neurocomp
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