Midfrontal Theta and Cognitive Control During Interlimb Coordination Across the Adult Lifespan.

Interlimb coordination is required for adequate execution of most daily life activities. Yet, aging negatively affects interlimb coordination, impacting the quality of life in older people. Therefore, disentangling the underlying age-related neural mechanisms is of utmost importance.

Optimizing the Effect of tDCS on Motor Sequence Learning in the Elderly.

One of the most visible effects of aging, even in healthy, normal aging, is a decline in motor performance. The range of strategies applicable to counteract this deterioration has increased. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that can promote neuroplasticity, has recently gained attention.

Age-related changes in midfrontal theta activity during steering control: A driving simulator study.

Motor control, a ubiquitous part of driving, requires increased cognitive controlled processing in older adults relative to younger adults. However, the influence of aging on motor-related neural mechanisms in the context of driving has rarely been studied. The present study aimed to identify age-related changes in cognitive control and attention allocation during a simulated steering task, using electroencephalography.

Aging and Complexity Effects on Hemisphere-Dependent Movement-Related Beta Desynchronization during Bimanual Motor Planning and Execution.

With aging comes degradation of bimanual movement performance. A hallmark feature of bimanual movements is movement-related beta desynchronization (MRBD), an attenuation in the amplitude of beta oscillations associated with sensorimotor activation. Here, we investigated MRBD in 39 healthy adults (20 younger and 19 older adults) in frontal, central, and parietal regions across both hemispheres, during the planning and execution of a bimanual tracking task.

Cerebellum and Neurorehabilitation in Emotion with a Focus on Neuromodulation.

More and more research has focused on the role of the cerebellum in emotions and social cognition. Structural cerebellar and cerebello-cerebral connectivity abnormalities have been identified in several prevalent neuropsychiatric conditions, which have in some cases even been linked to the severity of the emotional disorder.Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques are currently used to modulate neuronal excitability and tune the connectivity within and between neuronal networks.

Age and Interlimb Coordination Complexity Modulate Oscillatory Spectral Dynamics and Large-scale Functional Connectivity.

Interlimb coordination deteriorates as a result of aging. Due to its ubiquity in daily life, a greater understanding of the underlying neurophysiological changes is required. Here, we combined electroencephalography time-frequency spectral power and functional connectivity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of the neural dynamics underlying the age-related deterioration of interlimb coordination involving all four limbs.

Motor sequence learning in a goal-directed stepping task in persons with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.

Motor sequence learning in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and healthy controls (HC) under implicit or explicit learning conditions has not yet been investigated in a stepping task. Given the prevalent cognitive and mobility impairments in pwMS, this is important in order to understand motor learning processes and optimize rehabilitation strategies. Nineteen pwMS (the Expanded Disability Status Scale = 3.

Cerebellar Activation During Simple and Complex Bimanual Coordination: an Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) Meta-analysis.

Bimanual coordination is an important part of everyday life and recruits a large neural network, including the cerebellum. The specific role of the cerebellum in bimanual coordination has not yet been studied in depth, although several studies indicate a differential role of the anterior and posterior cerebellum depending on the complexity of the coordination. An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis was used combining the data of several functional MRI studies involving bimanual coordination tasks with varying complexities to unravel the involvement of the different areas of the cerebellum in simple and complex bimanual coordination.

The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on upper-limb function post-stroke: A meta-analysis of multiple-session studies.

Objective: To systematically review how patient characteristics and/or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) parameters influence tDCS effectiveness in respect to upper limb function post-stroke.

Methods: Three electronic databases were searched for sham-controlled randomised trials using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for upper extremity as outcome measure. A meta-analysis and nine subgroup-analyses were performed to identify which tDCS parameters yielded the greatest impact on upper limb function recovery in stroke patients.

The Role of the Cerebellum in Social and Non-Social Action Sequences: A Preliminary LF-rTMS Study.

An increasing number of studies demonstrated the involvement of the cerebellum in (social) sequence processing. The current preliminary study is the first to investigate the causal involvement of the cerebellum in sequence generation, using low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LF-rTMS). By targeting the posterior cerebellum, we hypothesized that the induced neuro-excitability modulation would lead to altered performance on a Picture and Story sequencing task, which involve the generation of the correct chronological order of various social and non-social stories depicted in cartoons or sentences.

Dissociating the causal role of left and right dorsal premotor cortices in planning and executing bimanual movements - A neuro-navigated rTMS study.

Background: The dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) is a key region in bimanual coordination. However, causal evidence linking PMd functionality during motor planning and execution to movement quality is lacking.

Objective: We investigated how left (PMd) and right PMd (PMd) are causally involved in planning and executing bimanual movements, using short-train repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

Transcranial direct current stimulation and attention skills in burnout patients: a randomized blinded sham-controlled pilot study.

Burnout is characterized by deficiencies in attention and several components of the working memory. It has been shown that cognitive behavioral therapy can have a positive effect on burnout and depressive symptoms, however, the lingering effects of impaired attention and executive functions are the most frustrating. We hypothesized that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) can improve the executive control of attention and possibly several other components of working memory in patients with burnout.

Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Social Cognition.

The traditional view on the cerebellum is that it controls motor behavior. Although recent work has revealed that the cerebellum supports also nonmotor functions such as cognition and affect, only during the last 5 years it has become evident that the cerebellum also plays an important social role. This role is evident in social cognition based on interpreting goal-directed actions through the movements of individuals (social "mirroring") which is very close to its original role in motor learning, as well as in social understanding of other individuals' mental state, such as their intentions, beliefs, past behaviors, future aspirations, and personality traits (social "mentalizing").

Induced Suppression of the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Favorably Changes Interhemispheric Communication During Bimanual Coordination in Older Adults-A Neuronavigated rTMS Study.

Recent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) research indicated that the ability of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to disinhibit the contralateral primary motor cortex (M1) during motor preparation is an important predictor for bimanual motor performance in both young and older healthy adults. However, this DLPFC-M1 disinhibition is reduced in older adults. Here, we transiently suppressed left DLPFC using repetitive TMS (rTMS) during a cyclical bimanual task and investigated the effect of left DLPFC suppression: (1) on the projection from left DLPFC to the contralateral M1; and (2) on motor performance in 21 young (mean age ± SD = 21.

Connectivity between the cerebrum and cerebellum during social and non-social sequencing using dynamic causal modelling.

This analysis explores the effective connectivity of the cerebellum with the cerebral cortex during the generation of correct sequences of social and non-social events, using dynamic causal modelling (DCM). Our hypothesis is that during human evolution, the cerebellum's function evolved from a mere coordinator of fluent sequences of motions and actions, to an interpreter of action sequences without overt movements that are important for social understanding. This requires efficient neural communication between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex.

The Cerebellar Cognitive Affective/Schmahmann Syndrome: a Task Force Paper.

Sporadically advocated over the last two centuries, a cerebellar role in cognition and affect has been rigorously established in the past few decades. In the clinical domain, such progress is epitomized by the "cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome" ("CCAS") or "Schmahmann syndrome." Introduced in the late 1990s, CCAS reflects a constellation of cerebellar-induced sequelae, comprising deficits in executive function, visuospatial cognition, emotion-affect, and language, over and above speech.

The posterior Cerebellum is involved in constructing Social Action Sequences: An fMRI Study.

Social neuroscience largely ignored the role of the cerebellum, despite its implications in a broad range of tasks and neurological disorders related to social functioning and inferences on others' mental state such as beliefs. One hypothesis states that during human evolution, the cerebellum's function evolved from a mere coordinator of fluent sequences of motions and actions, to an interpreter of action sequences without overt movements that are important for social understanding. The present study introduces new tasks to investigate the role of the cerebellum in sequencing, in which participants generated the correct chronological order of new or well-known event stories with or without social elements during functional neuroimaging (fMRI).

Cerebellar Cortex as a Therapeutic Target for Neurostimulation.

Non-invasive stimulation of the cerebellum is growingly applied both in the clinic and in research settings to modulate the activities of cerebello-cerebral loops. The anatomical location of the cerebellum, the high responsiveness of the cerebellar cortex to magnetic/electrical stimuli, and the implication of the cerebellum in numerous cerebello-cerebral networks make the cerebellum an ideal target for investigations and therapeutic purposes. In this mini-review, we discuss the potentials of cerebellar neuromodulation in major brain disorders in order to encourage large-scale sham-controlled research and explore this therapeutic aid further.

Cognitive Impact of Cerebellar Damage: Is There a Future for Cognitive Rehabilitation?

Background & Objective: During the past 3 decades, numerous neurophysiological, neuroimaging, experimental and clinical studies have evidenced a crucial role for the cerebellum in cognitive, affective and behavioral functions. As a result of the acknowledged modulatory role of the cerebellum upon remote structures such as the cerebral cortex, cerebellar injury may give rise to a constellation of behavioral, affective and cognitive symptoms (Schmahmann's Syndrome). In sharp contrast to the wide range of therapeutic interventions to treat cognitive and affective disorders following cerebral cortical lesions and despite the consequences of Schmahmann's syndrome upon daily life activities, the literature is surprisingly only scantly documented with studies investigating the impact of cognitive therapies on cerebellar induced cognitive and affective disorders.

Non-invasive Cerebellar Stimulation: Moving Towards Clinical Applications for Cerebellar and Extra-Cerebellar Disorders.

The field of non-invasive stimulation of the cerebellum is quickly expanding. The anatomical structure of the cerebellum with a high density of neurons in the superficial layer, its electrical properties, and its participation in numerous closed-loop circuits involved in motor, cognitive, and affective operations both in children and in adults make of the cerebellum a target with very high potential for neuromodulation of both cerebellar and extra-cerebellar disorders, in neurology, psychiatry, and neurosurgery. A common research effort is required to extract the optimal parameters of stimulation and to identify how non-invasive stimulation of the cerebellum modifies cerebellar plasticity and functional connectivity in remote cortical and subcortical areas.

Oral and written picture description in individuals with aphasia.

Background: Aphasia is characterized by difficulties in connected speech/writing.

Aims: To explore the differences between the oral and written description of a picture in individuals with chronic aphasia (IWA) and healthy controls. Descriptions were controlled for productivity, efficiency, grammatical organization, substitution behaviour and discourse organization.

Cerebellar induced differential polyglot aphasia: A neurolinguistic and fMRI study.

Research has shown that linguistic functions in the bilingual brain are subserved by similar neural circuits as in monolinguals, but with extra-activity associated with cognitive and attentional control. Although a role for the right cerebellum in multilingual language processing has recently been acknowledged, a potential role of the left cerebellum remains largely unexplored. This paper reports the clinical and fMRI findings in a strongly right-handed (late) multilingual patient who developed differential polyglot aphasia, ataxic dysarthria and a selective decrease in executive function due to an ischemic stroke in the left cerebellum.

The Click Test: A Novel Tool to Quantify the Age-Related Decline of Fast Motor Sequencing of the Thumb.

Background: The thumb plays a critical role for manual tasks during the activities of daily life and the incidence of neurological or musculoskeletal disorders affecting the voluntary movements of the thumb is high in the elderly. There is currently no tool to assess repetitive motor sequencing of the thumb during ageing.

Objectives: To report a novel procedure (the Click Test) assessing the effects of ageing on fast motor sequencing of the thumb.

The Posterior Fossa and Foreign Accent Syndrome: Report of Two New Cases and Review of the Literature.

Foreign accent syndrome is a rare motor speech disorder that causes patients to speak their language with a non-native accent. In the neurogenic condition, the disorder develops after lesions in the language dominant hemisphere, often affecting Broca's area, the insula, the supplementary motor area and the primary motor cortex. Here, we present two new cases of FAS after posterior fossa lesions.

Targeting the Cerebellum by Noninvasive Neurostimulation: a Review.

Transcranial magnetic and electric stimulation of the brain are novel and highly promising techniques currently employed in both research and clinical practice. Improving or rehabilitating brain functions by modulating excitability with these noninvasive tools is an exciting new area in neuroscience. Since the cerebellum is closely connected with the cerebral regions subserving motor, associative, and affective functions, the cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathways are an interesting target for these new techniques.