Oscillations in the β/γ band are present in a wide variety of brain areas but are most commonly associated with the neocortex (Gray et al. 1989; Gray and Singer 1989; Gray and McCormick 1996; Buhl et al. 1998; Cunningham et al. 2004; Traub et al. 2005), hippocampus (Whittington et al. 1995; Fisahn et al. 1998; Csicsvari et al. 2003; Hajos et al. 2004; Mann et al. 2005) and olfactory bulb (Eeckman and Freeman 1990). As such, the thalamus has not traditionally been considered as a key player in the generation of fast oscillations. Indeed, the initial inability to observe fast oscillations in the LGN suggested that they were neither reflected in the thalamus nor that the thalamus was involved in their generation (Gray and Singer 1989). However, a subsequent study in anesthetized cats showed that over half of neurons in the LGN show robust oscillatory activity at around 50 Hz (Ghose and Freeman 1992). Later work also revealed the presence of fast oscillations in the LGN, not only under anaesthesia but also during natural wakefulness (Steriade et al. 1996). Crucially,
