Causal evidence of the involvement of the right occipital face area in face-identity acquisition

There is growing evidence that the occipital face area (OFA), originally thought to be involved in the construction of a low-level representation of the physical features of a face, is also taking part in higher-level face processing. To test whether the OFA is causally involved in the learning of novel face identities, we have used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) together with a sequential sorting – face matching paradigm (Andrews et al. 2015). First, participants sorted images of two unknown persons during the initial learning phase while either their right OFA or the Vertex was stimulated using TMS. In the subsequent test phase, we measured the participants’ face matching performance for novel images of the previously trained identities and for two novel identities. We found that face-matching performance accuracy was higher for the trained as compared to the novel identities in the vertex control group, suggesting that the sorting task led to incidental learning of the identities involved. However, no such difference was observed between trained and novel identities in the rOFA stimulation group. Our results support the hypothesis that the role of the rOFA is not limited to the processing of low-level physical features, but it has a significant causal role in face identity encoding and in the formation of identity-specific memory-traces

Examining the synergistic effects of a cognitive control video game and a home-based, self-administered non-invasive brain stimulation on alleviating depression : the DiSCoVeR trial protocol

Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. The DisCoVeR project is funded by ERA NET NEURON. The NEURON ‘Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research is established under the organization of the ERA-NET ‘European Research Area Networks’ of the European Commission. National funding agencies are the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung [BMBF]) for LMU Munich, the Ministry of Health (MOH) for HUJI and Hadassah, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for UNIGE and EPFL and the State Education and Development Agency (VIAA) of Latvia for RSU. Funding Information: This project was funded by the European Research Area Network (ERA-NET) NEURON 2018 Mental Disorders program. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Enhanced behavioral interventions are gaining increasing interest as innovative treatment strategies for major depressive disorder (MDD). In this study protocol, we propose to examine the synergistic effects of a self-administered home-treatment, encompassing transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) along with a video game based training of attentional control. The study is designed as a two-arm, double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled multi-center trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04953208). At three study sites (Israel, Latvia, and Germany), 114 patients with a primary diagnosis of MDD undergo 6 weeks of intervention (30 × 30 min sessions). Patients assigned to the intervention group receive active tDCS (anode F3 and cathode F4; 2 mA intensity) and an action-like video game, while those assigned to the control group receive sham tDCS along with a control video game. An electrode-positioning algorithm is used to standardize tDCS electrode positioning. Participants perform their designated treatment at the clinical center (sessions 1-5) and continue treatment at home under remote supervision (sessions 6-30). The endpoints are feasibility (primary) and safety, treatment efficacy (secondary, i.e., change of Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) scores at week six from baseline, clinical response and remission, measures of social, occupational, and psychological functioning, quality of life, and cognitive control (tertiary). Demonstrating the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of this novel combined intervention could expand the range of available treatments for MDD to neuromodulation enhanced interventions providing cost-effective, easily accessible, and low-risk treatment options.ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04953208.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Non-invasive stimulation of the human striatum disrupts reinforcement learning of motor skills - UPHUMMEL - EPFL

<h2>Dataset and code to reproduce the main results of the paper "Non-invasive stimulation of the human striatum disrupts reinforcement learning of motor skills" </h2> <p>see Vassiliadis et al., Nature Human Behaviour (2024)</p> <p> </p> <p>Different Readme are provided to facilitate the analyses in the corresponding subfolders.</p> <p> </p> <h3><strong>1) Behavioural data:</strong></h3> <p><em>Data</em></p> <p>Raw data (in the "Data/Behav/Raw") for each subject are provided and the corresponding Matlab code (in the "Code" folder) to reproduce the main results</p> <p>The summary table which can be used to run statistics is also provided ("Data/Behav/myTab1.mat") or can be generated with the code.</p> <p>Each subject folder contains the different files which correspond to one block of the task:</p> <p>rml_FTT_MRI_B0_XXX: quick re-familiarization in MRI</p> <p>rml_FTT_MRI_B*_XXX: *=1 to 6 : 6 main experimental blocks --> The ones analysed by the code</p> <p>rml_FTT_MRI_fam: different familiarisation blocks (1: regular sequence, 2: irregular sequence, 0: short familiarisation with the visual uncertainty and with or without reinforcement)</p> <p> </p> <p><em>Code</em></p> <p>"analysis_block_FTT_MRI_Zenodo.m" </p> <p>--> opens every raw subject file (one per block) during the experiment (6 blocks)<br>--> computes the Error for each trial <br>--> the main figures<br>--> creates Tab1, a table in which each trial is stored with the corresponding features and Error value <br>--> generates frame-by-frame matrices for possible analyses of kinematics, error profiles, color changes etc.</p> <p>More specific explanations are in the comments of the Matlab code.</p> <p> </p> <h3><strong>2) MRI data</strong></h3> <div><strong>!!! Structural images were defaced in order to anonymize the dataset, but analysis were originally performed on raw images.</strong></div> <div> </div> <div><em>## Structural data analysis:</em></div> <div>- Run ./Code/1_struct/3_freesurfer.py --subject_idx 83Y02 83Y04 83Y05 83Y06 83Y07 83Y08 83Y09 83Y10 83Y11 83Y12 83Y13 83Y14 83Y15 83Y16 83Y17 83Y18 83Y19 83Y20 83Y21 83Y22 83Y23 83Y24 83Y26 83Y27 --session reward --data_folder ./Data/MRI --project_locations source_data --T2_fs 1</div> <div> </div> <div>- python ./Code/1_struct/4_creat_BNA_atlas_masks.py --subject_idx 83Y02 83Y04 83Y05 83Y06 83Y07 83Y08 83Y09 83Y10 83Y11 83Y12 83Y13 83Y14 83Y15 83Y16 83Y17 83Y18 83Y19 83Y20 83Y21 83Y22 83Y23 83Y24 83Y26 83Y27 --session reward</div> <div> </div> <div>It uses files in ./Data/MRI/derivatives/1_freesurfer/</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><em>## Functional data analysis:</em></div> <div>Whole brain contrasts</div> <div>- Run ./Code/2_funct_MRI/SPM_PlasMA83_1_common_preproc_script.m</div> <div> </div> <div>It computes from preprocessing to group level whole branalysis</div> <div>- ./Code/2_funct_MRI/spm_functions/SPMCommonPreprocess4Sess.m</div> <div>- ./Code/2_funct_MRI/tools/extractTimingVar.m</div> <div>- ./Code/2_funct_MRI/spm_functions/SPMFirstLevelAnalysis.m</div> <div>- ./Code/2_funct_MRI/spm_functions/SPMSecondLevelAnalysis.m</div> <div> </div> <div>Behavioral regressors</div> <div>- Run ./Code/2_funct_MRI/SPM_PlasMA83_3_common_preproc_behav_reg_script.m</div> <div> </div> <div>It perform whole brain behavioral correlations for:</div> <div>- main behavioral outputs: ./Code/2_funct_MRI/spm_functions/SPMSecondLevel_task_behav_reg.m</div> <div>- MCQ results: ./Code/2_funct_MRI/spm_functions/SPMSecondLevel_task_MCQ_reg.m</div> <div> </div> <div>Individual masks BOLD extraction</div> <div>- Run python ./Code/1_struct/5_extract_individual_freesurfer_ROI.py --subject_idx 83Yxx --session reward --data_folder ./Data/MRI --project_locations source_data --parc BNA --ROIs xxx --ROIs_name xxx</div> <div> </div> <div>- Run ./Code/2_funct_MRI/SPM_PlasMA83_3_common_preproc_individual_masks_script.m</div> <div> </div> <div>It extract contrast values and average them in predefined masks</div> <div>- coregistration of individual masks ./Code/2_funct_MRI/individual_masks/coregister_individual_masks_to_MNI.m</div> <div>- isolate betas within mask ./Code/2_funct_MRI/individual_masks/extract_betas_from_individual_mask.m</div> <div>- extract average beta values within the mask ./Code/2_funct_MRI/individual_masks/extract_avg_signal_stim_comp.m</div> <div> </div> <div>Connectivity</div> <div>- Run ./Code/2_funct_MRI/SPM_PlasMA83_4_conn_batch_script.m</div> <div> </div> <div>It computes gPPI connectivity</div> <div>- set up conn structure ./Code/2_funct_MRI/conn_functions/create_batch_task.m</div> <div>- manually run first-level analysis (see also matrix ./Data/MRI/derivatives/2_fMRI/04_task_conn/task_83_roi_to_roi.m)</div> <div>- Extract and plot functional connectivity ./Code/2_funct_MRI/conn_functions/ROI2ROI_connectivity.m</div> <p>---</p> <p>Contact: [email protected] </p&gt

Non-invasive stimulation of the human striatum disrupts reinforcement learning of motor skills

Reinforcement feedback can improve motor learning, but the underlying brain mechanisms remain unexplored. Especially, the causal contribution of specific patterns of oscillatory activity within the human striatum is unknown. To address this question, we exploited an innovative, non-invasive deep brain stimulation technique called transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) during reinforcement motor learning with concurrent neuroimaging, in a randomised, sham-controlled, double-blind study. Striatal tTIS applied at 80Hz, but not at 20Hz, abolished the benefits of reinforcement on motor learning. This effect was related to a selective modulation of neural activity within the striatum. Moreover, 80Hz, but not 20Hz, tTIS increased the neuromodulatory influence of the striatum on frontal areas involved in reinforcement motor learning. These results show for the first time that tTIS can non-invasively and selectively modulate a striatal mechanism involved in reinforcement learning, opening new horizons for the study of causal relationships between deep brain structures and human behaviour

Single session cross-frequency bifocal tACS modulates visual motion network activity in young healthy population and stroke patients

Background: Phase synchronization over long distances underlies inter-areal communication and importantly, modulates the flow of information processing to adjust to cognitive demands. Objective: This study investigates the impact of single-session, cross-frequency (Alpha-Gamma) bifocal transcranial alternating current stimulation (cf-tACS) to the cortical visual motion network on inter-areal coupling between the primary visual cortex (V1) and the medio-temporal area (MT) and on motion direction discrimination. Methods: Based on the well-established phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) mechanism driving information processing in the visual system, we designed a novel directionally tuned cf-tACS protocol. Directionality of information flow was inferred from the area receiving low-frequency tACS (e.g., V1) projecting onto the area receiving high-frequency tACS (e.g., MT), in this case, promoting bottom-up information flow (Forward-tACS). The control condition promoted the opposite top-down connection (from MT to V1, called Backward-tACS), both compared to a Sham-tACS condition. Task performance and EEG activity were recorded from 45 young healthy subjects. An additional cohort of 16 stroke patients with occipital lesions and impairing visual processing was measured to assess the influence of a V1 lesion on the modulation of V1-MT coupling. Results: The results indicate that Forward cf-tACS successfully modulated bottom-up PAC (V1 α-phase-MT ɣ-amplitude) in both cohorts, while producing opposite effects on the reverse MT-to-V1 connection. Backward-tACS did not change V1-MT PAC in either direction in healthy participants but induced a slight decrease in bottom-up PAC in stroke patients. However, these changes in inter-areal coupling did not translate into cf-tACS-specific behavioural improvements. Conclusions: Single session cf-tACS can alter inter-areal coupling in intact and lesioned brains but is probably not enough to induce longer-lasting behavioural effects in these cohorts. This might suggest that a longer daily visual training protocol paired with tACS is needed to unveil the relationship between externally applied oscillatory activity and behaviourally relevant brain processing

Examining the synergistic effects of a cognitive control video game and a home-based, self-administered non-invasive brain stimulation on alleviating depression: the DiSCoVeR trial protocol

Enhanced behavioral interventions are gaining increasing interest as innovative treatment strategies for major depressive disorder (MDD). In this study protocol, we propose to examine the synergistic effects of a self-administered home-treatment, encompassing transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) along with a video game based training of attentional control. The study is designed as a two-arm, double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled multi-center trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04953208). At three study sites (Israel, Latvia, and Germany), 114 patients with a primary diagnosis of MDD undergo 6 weeks of intervention (30 x 30 min sessions). Patients assigned to the intervention group receive active tDCS (anode F3 and cathode F4;2 mA intensity) and an action-like video game, while those assigned to the control group receive sham tDCS along with a control video game. An electrode-positioning algorithm is used to standardize tDCS electrode positioning. Participants perform their designated treatment at the clinical center (sessions 1-5) and continue treatment at home under remote supervision (sessions 6-30). The endpoints are feasibility (primary) and safety, treatment efficacy (secondary, i.e., change of Montgomery-angstrom sberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) scores at week six from baseline, clinical response and remission, measures of social, occupational, and psychological functioning, quality of life, and cognitive control (tertiary). Demonstrating the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of this novel combined intervention could expand the range of available treatments for MDD to neuromodulation enhanced interventions providing cost-effective, easily accessible, and low-risk treatment options. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04953208

Noninvasive theta-burst stimulation of the human striatum enhances striatal activity and motor skill learning

The stimulation of deep brain structures has thus far only been possible with invasive methods. Transcranial electrical temporal interference stimulation (tTIS) is a novel, noninvasive technology that might overcome this limitation. The initial proof-of-concept was obtained through modeling, physics experiments and rodent models. Here we show successful noninvasive neuromodulation of the striatum via tTIS in humans using computational modeling, functional magnetic resonance imaging studies and behavioral evaluations. Theta-burst patterned striatal tTIS increased activity in the striatum and associated motor network. Furthermore, striatal tTIS enhanced motor performance, especially in healthy older participants as they have lower natural learning skills than younger subjects. These findings place tTIS as an exciting new method to target deep brain structures in humans noninvasively, thus enhancing our understanding of their functional role. Moreover, our results lay the groundwork for innovative, noninvasive treatment strategies for brain disorders in which deep striatal structures play key pathophysiological roles.ISSN:1097-6256ISSN:1546-172