The origin of extracellular fields and currents — EEG, ECoG, LFP and spikes | Nature Reviews Neuroscience

Neuronal activity in the brain gives rise to transmembrane and extracellular electromagnetic fields that can be measured in the extracellular medium using several approaches. In this Review, Buzsáki and colleagues provide an overview of the mechanisms that underlie the generation of extracellular currents and fields.

Subjects Cellular neuroscience Computational neuroscience Extracellular signalling molecules Ion channels Synaptic transmission Key Points All currents in the brain superimpose to yield an 'electric field' at any given point in space. The current sources and sinks form dipoles or higher-order n-poles. Extracellular currents arise from many sources, including synaptic currents, fast action potentials and their afterpotentials, calcium spikes and voltage-dependent intrinsic currents. The magnitude of extracellular currents depends critically on two factors: the cytoarchitectural organization of

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