TY - JOUR
T1 - Polarity-dependent modulation of multi-spectral neuronal activity by transcranial direct current stimulation
AU - Wiesman, Alex I.
AU - Mills, Mackenzie S.
AU - McDermott, Timothy J.
AU - Spooner, Rachel K.
AU - Coolidge, Nathan M.
AU - Wilson, Tony W.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants R01-MH103220 (TWW), R01-MH116782 (TWW), RF1-MH117032 (TWW), and F31-AG055332 (AIW) from the National Institutes of Health, grant #1539067 from the National Science Foundation (TWW), the Shoemaker Prize from the University of Nebraska Foundation (TWW), and a grant from the Nebraska Banker's Association (TWW). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants R01-MH103220 (TWW), R01-MH116782 (TWW), RF1-MH117032 (TWW), and F31-AG055332 (AIW) from the National Institutes of Health , grant #1539067 from the National Science Foundation (TWW), the Shoemaker Prize from the University of Nebraska Foundation (TWW), and a grant from the Nebraska Banker's Association (TWW). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - The ability to preferentially deploy neural resources to the visual space is an important component of normative cognitive function, however, the population-level cortical dynamics that sub-serve this ability are not fully understood. Specifically, rhythmic activity in the occipital cortices (e.g., theta, alpha, and gamma oscillations) has been strongly implicated in this cognitive process, but these neural responses are difficult to non-invasively manipulate in a systematic manner. In this study, transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) was used to modulate brain activity, while high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) was employed to quantify changes in rhythm-specific neural activity in the occipital cortices of 57 adults performing a visuospatial processing paradigm. All MEG data was analyzed using advanced source reconstruction and oscillatory analysis methods. Our results indicated that basal levels of occipital alpha activity were increased by an occipital-anodal/supraorbital-cathodal tDCS montage, while basal gamma levels in the same cortices were decreased by tDCS using the same montage with its polarity reversed (occipital-cathodal/supraorbital-anodal). In other words, stimulation with the occipital-anodal montage increased local spontaneous alpha (10–16 Hz) activity, while stimulation with the occipital-cathodal montage selectively decreased local gamma (64–90 Hz) activity. Neither polarity affected stimulus-induced oscillations in the alpha or gamma range. Additionally, these modulations strongly predicted the subsequent formation of fronto-visual functional connectivity within distinct oscillatory rhythms, as well as behavior on the visuospatial discrimination task. These findings provide insight into the multifaceted effects of tDCS on cortical activity, as well as the dynamic oscillatory coding of salient information in the human brain.
AB - The ability to preferentially deploy neural resources to the visual space is an important component of normative cognitive function, however, the population-level cortical dynamics that sub-serve this ability are not fully understood. Specifically, rhythmic activity in the occipital cortices (e.g., theta, alpha, and gamma oscillations) has been strongly implicated in this cognitive process, but these neural responses are difficult to non-invasively manipulate in a systematic manner. In this study, transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) was used to modulate brain activity, while high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) was employed to quantify changes in rhythm-specific neural activity in the occipital cortices of 57 adults performing a visuospatial processing paradigm. All MEG data was analyzed using advanced source reconstruction and oscillatory analysis methods. Our results indicated that basal levels of occipital alpha activity were increased by an occipital-anodal/supraorbital-cathodal tDCS montage, while basal gamma levels in the same cortices were decreased by tDCS using the same montage with its polarity reversed (occipital-cathodal/supraorbital-anodal). In other words, stimulation with the occipital-anodal montage increased local spontaneous alpha (10–16 Hz) activity, while stimulation with the occipital-cathodal montage selectively decreased local gamma (64–90 Hz) activity. Neither polarity affected stimulus-induced oscillations in the alpha or gamma range. Additionally, these modulations strongly predicted the subsequent formation of fronto-visual functional connectivity within distinct oscillatory rhythms, as well as behavior on the visuospatial discrimination task. These findings provide insight into the multifaceted effects of tDCS on cortical activity, as well as the dynamic oscillatory coding of salient information in the human brain.
KW - Magnetoencephalography
KW - Oscillations
KW - Transcranial direct current stimulation
KW - Visual perception
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85053752502&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.012
DO - 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 30261367
AN - SCOPUS:85053752502
SN - 0010-9452
VL - 108
SP - 222
EP - 233
JO - Cortex
JF - Cortex
ER -