Exploring the Effects of TMS on Cortical Oscillations

描述（由申请人提供）：人类EEG记录研究揭示了大脑活动中存在振荡节律，并且不同频带中的D振荡与认知过程（如工作D记忆）相关。此外，在精神疾病如D型精神分裂症中发现了振荡活动的改变。尽管他们明显的相关性，但是，神经振荡在认知D过程中的作用还知之甚少。拟议的项目探讨了这些问题，同时使用D经颅磁刺激（TMS）和脑电图记录。具体而言，本提案评估了关于TMS影响正在进行的神经活动并因此影响D行为的机制的两个提案。第一种观点认为，TMS是通过将电噪声注入与任务相关的D神经区，从而产生特征性的成绩下降来达到其效果的。然而，这一建议是不一致的，与TMS相关的性能改善，这已在几项研究中报告的D调查结果。因此，另一种解释认为，TMS以微妙的方式与与特定任务的D性能相关的正在进行的神经活动相互作用，根据相互作用的D性质产生性能的中断或改善。这个问题是探讨在实验中比较的影响10-Hz重复D（r）TMS对神经活动，10-Hz的视觉闪烁，这是已知的产生广泛的D夹带（即中断）的神经活动的闪烁频率的影响。另外两个实验探索了7个与任务相关的神经振荡变化，以及如何使用TMS来改变这种振荡，从而在个体受试者水平上改善或破坏表现。D D拟议的项目将有助于澄清神经刺激方法，如经颅磁D刺激（TMS）如何影响正在进行的神经活动，并将决定性地有助于我们理解D神经振荡在认知过程中的作用，如工作记忆。此外，这里开发的方法D将为TMS在精神疾病（如精神分裂症）中发现的异常D振荡的探索和治疗中的使用指明方向。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): EEG recording studies in humans have revealed the presence of oscillatory rhythms in brain activity, and D oscillations in different frequency bands have been associated with cognitive processes such as working D memory. Additionally, alterations of oscillatory activity are found in psychiatric illnesses such as D schizophrenia. Despite their apparent relevance, however, the role of neural oscillations in cognitive D processes are as yet poorly understood. The proposed project explores these issues using simultaneous D transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and EEG recording. Specifically, the present proposal assesses D two proposals regarding the mechanisms by which TMS influences ongoing neural activity and hence D behavior. The first proposal holds that TMS achieves it effects by injecting electrical noise into task-related D neural areas, producing characteristic declines in performance. However, this proposal is inconsistent with D findings of TMS-related improvements in performance, which have been reported in several studies. Thus, C an alternative account holds that TMS interacts in subtle ways with ongoing neural activity related to the D performance of specific tasks, producing disruptions or improvements in performance depending on the D nature of the interaction. This issue is explored in an experiment comparing the effects of 10-Hz repetitive D (r)TMS on neural activity, to the effects of 10-Hz visual flicker, which is known to produce widespread D entrainment (i.e. disruption) of neural activity to the flicker frequency. Two additional experiments explore 7 task-related changes in neural oscillations, and how TMS can be used to alter such oscillations, producing u improvements or disruptions in performance at the individual subject level. D D The proposed project will help to clarify how neurostimulation methods such as transcranial magnetic D stimulation (TMS) influence ongoing neural activity, and will contribute decisively to our understanding of D the role of neural oscillations in cognitive processes such as working memory. Moreover, the methods D developed here will point the way towards the use of TMS in the exploration and treatment of abnormal D oscillations found in psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia.