Exploring the Effects of TMS on Cortical Oscillations

描述（由申请人提供）：人类脑电图记录研究揭示了大脑活动中存在振荡节律，不同频带的D振荡与认知过程（如工作D记忆）有关。此外，振荡活动的改变在精神疾病如精神分裂症中也有发现。然而，尽管它们明显相关，但神经振荡在认知D过程中的作用尚不清楚。提出的项目探讨这些问题，同时使用D经颅磁刺激（TMS）和脑电图记录。具体来说，本提案评估了关于经颅磁刺激影响正在进行的神经活动和行为的机制的两个提案。第一种观点认为，经颅磁刺激是通过向与任务相关的D神经区域注入电噪声来达到效果的，从而导致表现的特征性下降。然而，这一建议与一些研究中报道的与tms相关的性能改善的研究结果不一致。因此，另一种解释认为，经颅磁刺激以微妙的方式与正在进行的与特定任务的D性能相关的神经活动相互作用，根据相互作用的D性质产生干扰或改善性能。在一项比较10hz重复D (r)TMS对神经活动的影响与10hz视觉闪烁的影响的实验中，我们探讨了这个问题，众所周知，10hz视觉闪烁会产生广泛的D干扰（即破坏）神经活动。另外两个实验探讨了神经振荡中与任务相关的7种变化，以及如何使用经颅磁刺激来改变这种振荡，从而在个体受试者水平上提高或破坏表现。提出的项目将有助于阐明神经刺激方法，如经颅磁刺激（TMS）如何影响正在进行的神经活动，并将有助于我们对神经振荡在认知过程（如工作记忆）中的作用的理解。此外，这里开发的方法将为TMS在精神疾病（如精神分裂症）中发现的异常D振荡的探索和治疗指明道路。

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.