What Are Gamma Waves (And How Are They Relevant to Clinical Psychiatry)?
Source abstract
Abstract
This review raises the importance of understanding the functions of gamma waves in the practice of clinical psychiatry. Measured by electroencephalograph (EEG), gamma waves are those electrical waves between 30 Hz and 200 Hz, and are relevant to psychiatry because of their ability to influence other brain electrical activity, and thence have associations with various mental disorders. To inform readers, gamma waves are defined and described, and some examples of their association with psychiatric disorders are briefly recounted. Four ways in which gamma waves might modulate brain activity and influence behaviour, potentially leading to a comprehensive model of gamma and its association with mental illness, are discussed. Inconsistencies in definition, measurement, and findings from gamma wave research are also described, and suggestions made for overcoming these limitations in future research.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Neural dynamics and brain function · EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
References (100+)
Show source-provided references
1. The integration of neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience in the 21st century10.1176/appi.ajp.159.5.695 ↗
2. Psychiatry as a clinical neuroscience discipline10.1001/jama.294.17.2221 ↗
3. The future of psychiatry as clinical neuroscience10.1097/ACM.0b013e31819a8052 ↗
4. The emergence of modern neuroscience: Some implications for neurology and psychiatry10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.343 ↗
5. Social neuroscience as an ideal basic science for psychiatry10.1002/wps.20137 ↗
6. Social neuroscience and its potential contribution to psychiatry10.1002/wps.20118 ↗
7. A revitalized biopsychosocial model: Core theory, research paradigms, and clinical implications10.1017/S0033291723002660 ↗
8. WHO (2025, July 28). ICD-11 Revision, Available online: https://icd.who.int/en.
9. APA (2025, July 28). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., Text rev.). Available online: https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.
10. Effectiveness of the neuroimaging techniques in the recognition of psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs10.2174/1573405620666230526113304 ↗
11. Neuroimaging of psychiatric disorders10.1016/bs.pbr.2021.12.001 ↗
12. The promise of precision functional mapping for neuroimaging in psychiatry10.1038/s41386-024-01941-z ↗
13. Leveraging ultra-high field (7T) MRI in psychiatric research10.1038/s41386-024-01980-6 ↗
14. Park, S.M., Jeong, B., Oh, D.Y., Choi, C.-H., Jung, H.Y., Lee, J.-Y., Lee, D., and Choi, J.-S. (2021). Identification of major psychiatric disorders from resting-state electroencephalography using a machine learning approach. Front. Psychiatry, 12.10.3389/fpsyt.2021.707581 ↗
15. Identification of psychiatric disorder subtypes from functional connectivity patterns in resting-state electroencephalography10.1038/s41551-020-00614-8 ↗
16. Diagnosis and prognosis of mental disorders by means of EEG and deep learning: A systematic mapping study10.1007/s10462-021-09986-y ↗
17. Assessing interactions in the brain with exact low-resolution electromagnetic tomography
18. Effective relax acquisition: A novel approach to classify relaxed state in alpha band EEG-based transformation10.1186/s40708-024-00225-y ↗
19. Beta: Bursts of cognition10.1016/j.tics.2024.03.010 ↗
20. Brain Waves Reflect Cognition-Emotion State as a Diagnostic Tool for Intervention in Dysfunctional States: A Real-World Evidence10.6000/2292-2598.2022.10.04.1 ↗
21. Newson, J.J., and Thiagarajan, T.C. (2019). EEG frequency bands in psychiatric disorders: A review of resting state studies. Front. Hum. Neurosci., 12.10.3389/fnhum.2018.00521 ↗
22. Gamma oscillations as a biomarker for major depression: An emerging topic10.1038/s41398-018-0239-y ↗
23. Jia, X., and Kohn, A. (2011). Gamma rhythms in the brain. PLoS Biol., 9.10.1371/journal.pbio.1001045 ↗
24. Evidence for gamma inhibition deficits in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia10.1093/brain/awq046 ↗
25. Resting-state EEG and MEG gamma frequencies in schizophrenia: A systematic review and exploratory power-spectrum metanalysis10.1038/s41537-025-00596-z ↗
26. Bitsika, V., Sharpley, C.F., Evans, I.D., Watson, C.B., Williams, R.J., and Vessey, K.A. (2025). Low-Level Social Demand Is Associated with Anxiety-Related Gamma Wave Responses in Autistic Male Youth. Brain Sci., 15.10.3390/brainsci15010040 ↗
27. Human EEG gamma oscillations in neuropsychiatric disorders10.1016/j.clinph.2005.07.007 ↗
28. γ neuromodulations: Unraveling biomarkers for neurological and psychiatric disorders
29. Guan, A., Wang, S., Huang, A., Qiu, C., Li, Y., Li, X., Wang, J., Wang, Q., and Deng, B. (2022). The role of gamma oscillations in central nervous system diseases: Mechanism and treatment. Front. Cell. Neurosci., 16.10.3389/fncel.2022.962957 ↗
30. Hans berger (1873–1941), richard caton (1842–1926), and electroencephalography10.1136/jnnp.74.1.9 ↗
31. Mystery of gamma wave stimulation in brain disorders10.1186/s13024-024-00785-x ↗
32. Mechanisms of gamma oscillations10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150444 ↗
33. Over and above frequency: Gamma oscillations as units of neural circuit operations10.1016/j.neuron.2023.02.026 ↗
34. Brain rhythms have come of age10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.018 ↗
35. Feature selectivity of the gamma-band of the local field potential in primate primary visual cortex10.3389/neuro.01.037.2008 ↗
36. Temporal structure in neuronal activity during working memory in macaque parietal cortex10.1038/nn890 ↗
37. Gamma oscillations coordinate amygdalo-rhinal interactions during learning10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2153-07.2007 ↗
38. How Close Are We to Understanding What (if Anything) γ Oscillations Do in Cortical Circuits?10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0990-16.2016 ↗
39. Ahmed, O.J., and Cash, S.S. (2013). Finding synchrony in the desynchronized EEG: The history and interpretation of gamma rhythms. Front. Integr. Neurosci., 7.10.3389/fnint.2013.00058 ↗
40. Weiss, E., Kann, M., and Wang, Q. (2023). Neuromodulation of Neural Oscillations in Health and Disease. Biology, 12.10.3390/biology12030371 ↗
41. Rhythms for Cognition: Communication through Coherence10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.034 ↗
42. Deciphering the code: Identifying true gamma neural oscillations10.1016/j.expneurol.2022.114205 ↗
43. A review of gamma oscillations in healthy subjects and in cognitive impairment
44. The gamma rhythm as a guardian of brain health10.7554/eLife.100238 ↗
45. What is resilience: An affiliative neuroscience approach10.1002/wps.20729 ↗
46. Functional role of gamma and theta oscillations in episodic memory10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.12.014 ↗
47. Two views on the cognitive brain10.1038/s41583-021-00448-6 ↗
48. Neuronal oscillations in cortical networks10.1126/science.1099745 ↗
49. Principles of large-scale neural interactions10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.015 ↗
50. A mechanism for cognitive dynamics: Neuronal communication through neuronal coherence10.1016/j.tics.2005.08.011 ↗
51. Neural synchrony in stochastic resonance, attention, and consciousness10.1037/cjep2006029 ↗
52. Miniussi, C., and Bortoletto, M. (2025). Harnessing neural variability: Implications for brain research and non-invasive brain stimulation. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 176.10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106312 ↗
53. Human gamma-frequency oscillations associated with attention and memory10.1016/j.tins.2007.05.001 ↗
54. Neurophysiological and computational principles of cortical rhythms in cognition10.1152/physrev.00035.2008 ↗
55. Modulating gamma oscillations promotes brain connectivity to improve cognitive impairment10.1093/cercor/bhab371 ↗
56. Nahar, L., Delacroix, B.M., and Nam, H.W. (2021). The Role of Parvalbumin Interneurons in Neurotransmitter Balance and Neurological Disease. Front. Psychiatry, 12.10.3389/fpsyt.2021.679960 ↗
57. Probing the Link Between Perception and Oscillations: Lessons from Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation10.1177/1073858419828646 ↗
58. Oscillatory responses in cat visual cortex exhibit inter-columnar synchronization which reflects global stimulus properties10.1038/338334a0 ↗
59. Visual feature integration and the temporal correlation hypothesis10.1146/annurev.ne.18.030195.003011 ↗
60. Han, C., Wang, T., Yang, Y., Wu, Y., Li, Y., Dai, W., Zhang, Y., Wang, B., Yang, G., and Cao, Z. (2021). Multiple gamma rhythms carry distinct spatial frequency information in primary visual cortex. PLoS Biol., 19.10.1371/journal.pbio.3001466 ↗
61. A new look at gamma? High-(>60 Hz) γ-band activity in cortical networks: Function, mechanisms and impairment10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2010.10.004 ↗
62. Abnormal neural oscillations and synchrony in schizophrenia10.1038/nrn2774 ↗
63. Coleman, S.L., Sharpley, C.F., Vessey, K.A., Evans, I.D., Williams, R.J., and Bitsika, V. (2025). Gamma oscillations as correlates of depression: Updating Fitzgerald and Watson (2018). Rev. Neurosci., 36.10.1515/revneuro-2025-0023 ↗
64. Palmisano, A., Pandit, S., Smeralda, C.L., Demchenko, I., Rossi, S., Battelli, L., Rivolta, D., Bhat, V., and Santarnecchi, E. (2024). The pathophysiological underpinnings of gamma-band alterations in psychiatric disorders. Life, 14.10.3390/life14050578 ↗
65. Electro-Encephalography: III. Normal differentiation of occipital and precentral regions in man10.1001/archneurpsyc.1938.02270010106010 ↗
66. Neuronal Gamma-Band Synchronization as a Fundamental Process in Cortical Computation10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135603 ↗
67. Gamma rhythms in the visual cortex: Functions and mechanisms10.1007/s11571-021-09767-x ↗
68. Bennett, M.R. (1997). The Idea of Consciousness: Synapses and the Mind, Harwood Academic.
69. Gamma oscillatory complexity conveys behavioral information in hippocampal networks10.1038/s41467-024-46012-5 ↗
70. Gamma oscillations weaken with age in healthy elderly in human EEG10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116826 ↗
71. Alterations in EEG functional connectivity in individuals with depression: A systematic review10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.126 ↗
72. Neural mechanisms underlying the Rubber Hand Illusion: A systematic review of related neurophysiological studies10.1002/brb3.2124 ↗
73. Chan, D., Suk, H.-J., Jackson, B., Milman, N.P., Stark, D., Klerman, E.B., Kitchener, E., Avalos, V.S.F., Banerjee, A., and Beach, S.D. (2021). 40Hz sensory stimulation induces gamma entrainment and affects brain structure, sleep and cognition in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia. MedRxiv.
74. Perception of social synchrony induces mother–child gamma coupling in the social brain10.1093/scan/nsx032 ↗
75. Kinreich, S., Djalovski, A., Kraus, L., Louzoun, Y., and Feldman, R. (2017). Brain-to-Brain Synchrony during Naturalistic Social Interactions. Sci. Rep., 7.10.1038/s41598-017-17339-5 ↗
76. Gamma rhythms link prefrontal interneuron dysfunction with cognitive inflexibility in Dlx5/6+/− mice10.1016/j.neuron.2015.02.019 ↗
77. Reinstating olfactory bulb-derived limbic gamma oscillations alleviates depression-like behavioral deficits in rodents10.1016/j.neuron.2023.04.013 ↗
78. Theta- and gamma-band oscillatory uncoupling in the macaque hippocampus10.7554/eLife.86548 ↗
79. Schiller, B., Koenig, T., and Heinrichs, M. (2019). Oxytocin modulates the temporal dynamics of resting EEG networks. Sci. Rep., 9.10.1038/s41598-019-49636-6 ↗
80. Interaction of acetylcholine and oxytocin neuromodulation in the hippocampus10.1016/j.neuron.2024.02.021 ↗
81. EEG oscillations: From correlation to causality10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.02.003 ↗
82. Neural synchrony in cortical networks: History, concept and current status10.3389/neuro.07.017.2009 ↗
83. Neural Cross-Frequency Coupling: Connecting Architectures, Mechanisms, and Functions10.1016/j.tins.2015.09.001 ↗
84. Salimpour, Y., and Anderson, W.S. (2019). Cross-Frequency Coupling Based Neuromodulation for Treating Neurological Disorders. Front. Neurosci., 13.10.3389/fnins.2019.00125 ↗
85. Phase/amplitude reset and theta-gamma interaction in the human medial temporal lobe during a continuous word recognition memory task10.1002/hipo.20117 ↗
86. Yao, Y., Wu, M., Wang, L., Lin, L., and Xu, J. (2020). Phase Coupled Firing of Prefrontal Parvalbumin Interneuron With High Frequency Oscillations. Front. Cell. Neurosci., 14.10.3389/fncel.2020.610741 ↗
87. Electrophysiological CNS-processes related to associative learning in humans10.1016/j.bbr.2015.09.011 ↗
88. Gamma band plasticity in sensory cortex is a signature of the strongest memory rather than memory of the training stimulus10.1016/j.nlm.2013.05.001 ↗
89. Exposure to early and persistent maternal depression impairs the neural basis of attachment in preadolescence10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.03.005 ↗
90. Theta–gamma coupling as a ubiquitous brain mechanism: Implications for memory, attention, dreaming, imagination, and consciousness10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101433 ↗
91. Gamma and Delta Neural Oscillations and Association with Clinical Symptoms under Subanesthetic Ketamine10.1038/npp.2009.168 ↗
92. Norepinephrine but not serotonin reuptake inhibitors enhance theta and gamma activity of the septo-hippocampal system10.1038/sj.npp.1300116 ↗
93. Watanabe, N., Yoshida, S., Keerativittayayut, R., and Takeda, M. (2024). Neural signatures of human psychological resilience driven by acute stress. bioRxiv.10.1101/2024.03.24.586503 ↗
94. The role of oxytocin and vasopressin dysfunction in cognitive impairment and mental disorders10.1016/j.npep.2020.102079 ↗
95. The Neurobiology of Human Attachments10.1016/j.tics.2016.11.007 ↗
96. Electrophysiological correlates of oxytocin-induced enhancement of social performance monitoring10.1093/scan/nsx094 ↗
97. Carter, C.S. (2017). The Oxytocin–Vasopressin Pathway in the Context of Love and Fear. Front. Endocrinol., 8.10.3389/fendo.2017.00356 ↗
98. Baribeau, D.A., and Anagnostou, E. (2015). Oxytocin and vasopressin: Linking pituitary neuropeptides and their receptors to social neurocircuits. Front. Neurosci., 9.10.3389/fnins.2015.00335 ↗
99. Multisensory gamma stimulation promotes glymphatic clearance of amyloid10.1038/s41586-024-07132-6 ↗
100. Lee, K.C., Gao, J., Leung, H.K., Wu, B.W.Y., Roberts, A., Thach, T.-Q., and Sik, H.H. (2024). Modulating Consciousness through Awareness Training Program and Its Impacts on Psychological Stress and Age-Related Gamma Waves. Brain Sci., 14.10.3390/brainsci14010091 ↗