N100 as a response prediction biomarker for accelerated 1 Hz right DLPFC-rTMS in major depression.

Background And Objective: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a safe and effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD); however, this treatment currently lacks reliable biomarkers of treatment response. TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs), measured using TMS-electroencephalography (TMS-EEG), have been suggested as potential biomarker candidates, with the N100 peak being one of the most promising. This study investigated the association between baseline N100 amplitude and 1 Hz right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R-DLPFC) accelerated rTMS (arTMS) treatment in MDD.

Reliability of resting-state EEG modulation by continuous and intermittent theta burst stimulation of the primary motor cortex: a sham-controlled study.

Theta burst stimulation (TBS) is a form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation designed to induce changes of cortical excitability that outlast the period of TBS application. In this study, we explored the effects of continuous TBS (cTBS) and intermittent TBS (iTBS) versus sham TBS stimulation, applied to the left primary motor cortex, on modulation of resting state electroencephalography (rsEEG) power. We first conducted hypothesis-driven region-of-interest (ROI) analyses examining changes in alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-21 Hz) bands over the left and right motor cortex.

Computational modeling of whole-brain dynamics: a review of neurosurgical applications.

A major goal of modern neurosurgery is the personalization of treatment to optimize or predict individual outcomes. One strategy in this regard has been to create whole-brain models of individual patients. Whole-brain modeling is a subfield of computational neuroscience that focuses on simulations of large-scale neural activity patterns across distributed brain networks.

Reliability of resting-state EEG modulation by continuous and intermittent theta burst stimulation of the primary motor cortex: A sham-controlled study.

Theta burst stimulation (TBS) is a form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation designed to induce changes of cortical excitability that outlast the period of TBS application. In this study, we explored the effects of continuous TBS (cTBS) and intermittent TBS (iTBS) versus sham TBS stimulation, applied to the primary motor cortex, on modulation of resting state electroencephalography (rsEEG) power. We first conducted hypothesis-driven region-of-interest (ROI) analyses examining changes in alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-21 Hz) bands over the left and right motor cortex.

Identifying Neurophysiological Markers of Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Depression Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Electroencephalography.

Background: Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is effective for treatment-resistant depression, but the effects of iTBS on neurophysiological markers remain unclear. Here, we indexed transcranial magnetic stimulation-electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) markers, specifically, the N45 and N100 amplitudes, at baseline and post-iTBS, comparing separated and contiguous iTBS schedules. TMS-EEG markers were also compared between iTBS responders and nonresponders.

TMS-evoked responses are driven by recurrent large-scale network dynamics.

A compelling way to disentangle the complexity of the brain is to measure the effects of spatially and temporally synchronized systematic perturbations. In humans, this can be non-invasively achieved by combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalography (EEG). Spatiotemporally complex and long-lasting TMS-EEG evoked potential (TEP) waveforms are believed to result from recurrent, re-entrant activity that propagates broadly across multiple cortical and subcortical regions, dispersing from and later re-converging on, the primary stimulation site.

Effect of group-based vs individualized stimulation site selection on reliability of network-targeted TMS.

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a widely used technique for the noninvasive assessment and manipulation of brain activity and behavior. Although extensively used for research and clinical purposes, recent studies have questioned the reliability of TMS findings because of the high inter-individual variability that has been observed.

Objective: In this study, we compared the efficacy and reliability of different targeting scenarios on the TMS-evoked response.

Maximizing brain networks engagement via individualized connectome-wide target search.

Background: In recent years, the possibility to noninvasively interact with the human brain has led to unprecedented diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities. However, the vast majority of approved interventions and approaches still rely on anatomical landmarks and rarely on the individual structure of networks in the brain, drastically reducing the potential efficacy of neuromodulation.

Objective: Here we implemented a target search algorithm leveraging on mathematical tools from Network Control Theory (NCT) and whole brain connectomics analysis.

Time reproduction, bisection and doubling: a novel paradigm to investigate the effect of the internal clock on time estimation.

Time perception is not always veridical, but it can be modulated by changes in internal and external context. The most-acknowledged theory in this regard hypothesises the existence of an internal clock allowing us to subjectively estimate time intervals. The aim of the present study is to investigate the possible effect of such an internal clock, measured as the ability to reproduce a target duration, in the mental manipulation of time: 63 healthy participants were asked to Bisect and to Double reference time intervals, besides Reproducing them.

Mapping Inter-individual Functional Connectivity Variability in TMS Targets for Major Depressive Disorder.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an emerging alternative to existing treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD). The effects of TMS on both brain physiology and therapeutic outcomes are known to be highly variable from subject to subject, however. Proposed reasons for this variability include individual differences in neurophysiology, in cortical geometry, and in brain connectivity.

A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement.

Low-intensity transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including alternating or direct current stimulation, applies weak electrical stimulation to modulate the activity of brain circuits. Integration of tES with concurrent functional MRI (fMRI) allows for the mapping of neural activity during neuromodulation, supporting causal studies of both brain function and tES effects. Methodological aspects of tES-fMRI studies underpin the results, and reporting them in appropriate detail is required for reproducibility and interpretability.

Phase-dependent local brain states determine the impact of image-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation on motor network electroencephalographic synchronization.

Recent studies have synchronized transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) application with pre-defined brain oscillatory phases showing how brain response to perturbation depends on the brain state. However, none have investigated whether phase-dependent TMS can possibly modulate connectivity with homologous distant brain regions belonging to the same network. In the framework of network-targeted TMS, we investigated whether stimulation delivered at a specific phase of ongoing brain oscillations might favour stronger cortico-cortical (c-c) synchronization of distant network nodes connected to the stimulation target.

Brain Functional Correlates of Episodic Memory Using an Ecological Free Recall Task.

Episodic Memory (EM) allows us to revive a past event through mental time-travel. The neural correlates of memories recollection have been identified in hippocampal regions and multiple neocortical areas, but few neuroimaging studies have used an ecological task such as a free recall of a structured story. Using an ecological fMRI-free recall (FR) task, we aimed to investigate the relevant recruitment of the brain networks associated with the story recollection process and its performance.

Personalized Adaptive Training Improves Performance at a Professional First-Person Shooter Action Videogame.

First-Person Shooter (FPS) game experience can be transferred to untrained cognitive functions such as attention, visual short-term memory, spatial cognition, and decision-making. However, previous studies have been using off-the-shelf FPS games based on predefined gaming settings, therefore it is not known whether such improvement of in game performance and transfer of abilities can be further improved by creating a in-game, adaptive in-game training protocol. To address this question, we compared the impact of a popular FPS-game (Counter-Strike:Global-Offensive-CS:GO) with an version of the game based on a personalized, adaptive algorithm modifying the artificial intelligence of opponents as well as the overall game difficulty on the basis of individual gaming performance.

Perturbation of resting-state network nodes preferentially propagates to structurally rather than functionally connected regions.

Combining Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) with electroencephalography (EEG) offers the opportunity to study signal propagation dynamics at high temporal resolution in the human brain. TMS pulse induces a local effect which propagates across cortical networks engaging distant cortical and subcortical sites. However, the degree of propagation supported by the structural compared to functional connectome remains unclear.

Reproducibility of cortical response modulation induced by intermittent and continuous theta-burst stimulation of the human motor cortex.

Background: Over the past decade, the number of experimental and clinical studies using theta-burst-stimulation (TBS) protocols of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to modulate brain activity has risen substantially. The use of TBS is motivated by the assumption that these protocols can reliably and lastingly modulate cortical excitability despite their short duration and low number of stimuli. However, this assumption, and thus the experimental validity of studies using TBS, is challenged by recent work showing large inter- and intra-subject variability in response to TBS protocols.

Overlapping and dissociable brain activations for fluid intelligence and executive functions.

Cognitive enhancement interventions aimed at boosting human fluid intelligence (gf) have targeted executive functions (EFs), such as updating, inhibition, and switching, in the context of transfer-inducing cognitive training. However, even though the link between EFs and gf has been demonstrated at the psychometric level, their neurofunctional overlap has not been quantitatively investigated. Identifying whether and how EFs and gf might share neural activation patterns could provide important insights into the overall hierarchical organization of human higher-order cognition, as well as suggest specific targets for interventions aimed at maximizing cognitive transfer.

Cortical responses to noninvasive perturbations enable individual brain fingerprinting.

Background: In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that characterizing individual brain structure, connectivity and dynamics is essential for understanding brain function in health and disease. However, the majority of neuroimaging and brain stimulation research has characterized human brain function by averaging measurements from groups of subjects and providing population-level inferences. External perturbations applied directly to well-defined brain regions can reveal distinctive information about the state, connectivity and dynamics of the human brain at the individual level.

Network-level macroscale structural connectivity predicts propagation of transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Information processing in the brain is mediated by structural white matter pathways and is highly dependent on topological brain properties. Here we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with high-density electroencephalography (EEG) and Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), specifically looking at macroscale connectivity to understand whether regional, network-level or whole-brain structural properties are more responsible for stimulus propagation. Neuronavigated TMS pulses were delivered over two individually defined nodes of the default mode (DMN) and dorsal attention (DAN) networks in a group of healthy subjects, with test-retest reliability assessed 1-month apart.

Functional connectivity changes and symptoms improvement after personalized, double-daily dosing, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A pilot study.

Background: intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors that characterize obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are associated to aberrant resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) patterns within the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits. A high percentage of OCD patients do not respond to conventional pharmacological treatments or psychotherapy. In these patients, inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) resulted in a significant clinical benefit.

Long-lasting connectivity changes induced by intensive first-person shooter gaming.

Action videogames have been shown to induce modifications in perceptual and cognitive systems, as well as in brain structure and function. Nevertheless, whether such changes are correlated with brain functional connectivity modifications outlasting the training period is not known. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in order to quantify acute and long-lasting connectivity changes following a sustained gaming experience on a first-person shooter (FPS) game.

Impact of network-targeted multichannel transcranial direct current stimulation on intrinsic and network-to-network functional connectivity.

Dynamics within and between functional resting-state networks have a crucial role in determining both healthy and pathological brain functioning in humans. The possibility to noninvasively interact and selectively modulate the activity of networks would open to relevant applications in neuroscience. Here we tested a novel approach for multichannel, network-targeted transcranial direct current stimulation (net-tDCS), optimized to increase excitability of the sensorimotor network (SMN) while inducing cathodal inhibitory modulation over prefrontal and parietal brain regions negatively correlated with the SMN.

Individualized perturbation of the human connectome reveals reproducible biomarkers of network dynamics relevant to cognition.

Large-scale brain networks are often described using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal provides an indirect measure of neuronal firing and reflects slow-evolving hemodynamic activity that fails to capture the faster timescale of normal physiological function. Here we used fMRI-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize individual brain dynamics within discrete brain networks at high temporal resolution.

Functional and Brain Activation Changes Following Specialized Upper-Limb Exercise in Parkinson's Disease.

For the management of Parkinson's disease (PD), the concept of forced exercise (FE) has drawn interest. In PD subjects, the FE executed with lower limbs has been shown to lessen symptoms and to promote brain adaptive changes. Our study is aimed to investigate the effect of an upper-limb exercise, conceptually comparable with the FE, in PD.