Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory

Network-level synchronization of theta oscillations in the cerebral cortex is linked to many vital cognitive functions across daily life, such as executive functions or regulation of arousal and consciousness. However, while neuroimaging has uncovered the ubiquitous functional relevance of theta rhy...

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Main Authors: Tiam Hosseinian, Fatemeh Yavari, Min-Fang Kuo, Michael A. Nitsche, Asif Jamil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-12-01
Series:NeuroImage
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921010442
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author Tiam Hosseinian
Fatemeh Yavari
Min-Fang Kuo
Michael A. Nitsche
Asif Jamil
author_facet Tiam Hosseinian
Fatemeh Yavari
Min-Fang Kuo
Michael A. Nitsche
Asif Jamil
author_sort Tiam Hosseinian
collection DOAJ
description Network-level synchronization of theta oscillations in the cerebral cortex is linked to many vital cognitive functions across daily life, such as executive functions or regulation of arousal and consciousness. However, while neuroimaging has uncovered the ubiquitous functional relevance of theta rhythms in cognition, there remains a limited set of techniques for externally enhancing and stabilizing theta in the human brain non-invasively. Here, we developed and employed a new phase-synchronized low-intensity electric and magnetic stimulation technique to induce and stabilize narrowband 6-Hz theta oscillations in a group of healthy human adult participants, and then demonstrated how this technique also enhances cognitive processing by assaying working memory. Our findings demonstrate a technological advancement of brain stimulation methods, while also validating the causal link between theta activity and concurrent cognitive behavior, which may ultimately help to not only explain mechanisms, but offer perspectives for restoring deficient theta-band network activity observed in neuropsychiatric diseases.
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spelling doaj.art-c63e33f9cda54ee99f8e5edac22a8c542022-12-21T18:45:10ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722021-12-01245118772Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memoryTiam Hosseinian0Fatemeh Yavari1Min-Fang Kuo2Michael A. Nitsche3Asif Jamil4Department Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, GermanyDepartment Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, GermanyDepartment Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, GermanyDepartment Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, Germany; Department Neurology, University Medical Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany; Corresponding authors at: Department Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, Germany.Department Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, Germany; Laboratory for Neuropsychiatry and Neuromodulation, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 Thirteenth Street, Boston, MA, USA; Corresponding authors at: Department Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystrasse 67, Dortmund 44139, Germany.Network-level synchronization of theta oscillations in the cerebral cortex is linked to many vital cognitive functions across daily life, such as executive functions or regulation of arousal and consciousness. However, while neuroimaging has uncovered the ubiquitous functional relevance of theta rhythms in cognition, there remains a limited set of techniques for externally enhancing and stabilizing theta in the human brain non-invasively. Here, we developed and employed a new phase-synchronized low-intensity electric and magnetic stimulation technique to induce and stabilize narrowband 6-Hz theta oscillations in a group of healthy human adult participants, and then demonstrated how this technique also enhances cognitive processing by assaying working memory. Our findings demonstrate a technological advancement of brain stimulation methods, while also validating the causal link between theta activity and concurrent cognitive behavior, which may ultimately help to not only explain mechanisms, but offer perspectives for restoring deficient theta-band network activity observed in neuropsychiatric diseases.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921010442rTMStACSThetaWorking memoryPrefrontal cortexOscillations
spellingShingle Tiam Hosseinian
Fatemeh Yavari
Min-Fang Kuo
Michael A. Nitsche
Asif Jamil
Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
NeuroImage
rTMS
tACS
Theta
Working memory
Prefrontal cortex
Oscillations
title Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
title_full Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
title_fullStr Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
title_full_unstemmed Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
title_short Phase synchronized 6 Hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
title_sort phase synchronized 6 hz transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation boosts frontal theta activity and enhances working memory
topic rTMS
tACS
Theta
Working memory
Prefrontal cortex
Oscillations
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921010442
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