Stimulation of the frontal eye field reveals persistent effective connectivity after controlled behavior

School-aged children diagnosed with an FASD exhibit visuo-cortical network disturbance: A magnetoencephalography (MEG) study

Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) often suffer from cognitive and neurobehavioral dysfunction throughout their lives, which may rise to a level of concern such that children receive a diagnosis under the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) umbrella. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) contributes direct insight into neural processing and functional connectivity measures with temporal precision to understand cortical processing disorders that manifest during development. The impairment of perception may become more consequential among school-aged children with an FASD in the process of intellectual functioning and behavioral maturation. Fifty participants with the age range of 8-13 years participated in our study following parental informed consent and child assent. For each participant, visual responses were recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while performing a prosaccade task with central stimuli (fovea centralis) and peripheral stimuli (left and right of central) presented on a screen, requiring participants to shift their gaze to the stimuli. After source analysis using minimum norm estimation (MNE), we investigated visual responses from each participant by measuring the latency and amplitude of visual evoked fields. Delayed peak latency of the visual response was identified in the primary visual area (calcarine fissure) and visual association areas (v2, v3) in young children with an FASD for both stimulus types (central and peripheral). But the difference in visual response latency was only statistically significant (p ≤ 0.01) for the peripheral (right) stimulus. We also observed reduced amplitude (p ≤ 0.006) of visual evoked response in children with an FASD for the central stimulus type in both primary and visual association areas. Multiple visual areas show impairment in children with an FASD, with visual delay and conduction disturbance more prominent in response to peripheral stimuli. Children with an FASD also exhibit significantly reduced amplitude of neural activation to central stimuli. These sensory deficits may lead to slow cognitive processing speed through continued intra-cortical network disturbance in children with an FASD.

Phase-Dependent Modulation of Signal Transmission in Cortical Networks through tACS-Induced Neural Oscillations

Oscillatory neural activity is considered a basis of signal transmission in brain networks. However, the causal role of neural oscillations in regulating cortico-cortical signal transmission has so far not been directly demonstrated. To date, due to methodological limitations, studies on the online modulatory mechanisms of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)-induced neural oscillations are confined to the primary motor cortex. To address the causal role of oscillatory activity in modulating cortico-cortical signal transmission, we have established a new method using concurrent tACS, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalography (EEG). Through tACS, we introduced 6-Hz (theta) oscillatory activity in the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). During tACS, we applied single-pulse TMS over the DLPFC at different phases of tACS and assessed propagation of TMS-induced neural activity with EEG. We show that tACS-induced theta oscillations modulate the propagation of TMS-induced activity in a phase-dependent manner and that phase-dependent modulation is not simply explained by the instantaneous amplitude of tACS. The results demonstrate a phase-dependent modulatory mechanism of tACS at a cortical network level, which is consistent with a causal role of neural oscillations in regulating the efficacy of signal transmission in the brain.

Frontal preparatory neural oscillations associated with cognitive control: A developmental study comparing young adults and adolescents

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that age-related changes in the frontal cortex may underlie developmental improvements in cognitive control. In the present study we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify frontal oscillatory neurodynamics that support age-related improvements in cognitive control during adolescence. We characterized the differences in neural oscillations in adolescents and adults during the preparation to suppress a prepotent saccade (antisaccade trials-AS) compared to preparing to generate a more automatic saccade (prosaccade trials-PS). We found that for adults, AS were associated with increased beta-band (16-38Hz) power in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), enhanced alpha- to low beta-band (10-18Hz) power in the frontal eye field (FEF) that predicted performance, and increased cross-frequency alpha-beta (10-26Hz) amplitude coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF. Developmental comparisons between adults and adolescents revealed similar engagement of DLPFC beta-band power but weaker FEF alpha-band power, and lower cross-frequency coupling between the DLPFC and the FEF in adolescents. These results suggest that lateral prefrontal neural activity associated with cognitive control is adult-like by adolescence; the development of cognitive control from adolescence to adulthood is instead associated with increases in frontal connectivity and strengthening of inhibition signaling for suppressing task-incompatible processes.

Multi-Dimensional Dynamics of Human Electromagnetic Brain Activity

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) are invaluable neuroscientific tools for unveiling human neural dynamics in three dimensions (space, time, and frequency), which are associated with a wide variety of perceptions, cognition, and actions. MEG/EEG also provides different categories of neuronal indices including activity magnitude, connectivity, and network properties along the three dimensions. In the last 20 years, interest has increased in inter-regional connectivity and complex network properties assessed by various sophisticated scientific analyses. We herein review the definition, computation, short history, and pros and cons of connectivity and complex network (graph-theory) analyses applied to MEG/EEG signals. We briefly describe recent developments in source reconstruction algorithms essential for source-space connectivity and network analyses. Furthermore, we discuss a relatively novel approach used in MEG/EEG studies to examine the complex dynamics represented by human brain activity. The correct and effective use of these neuronal metrics provides a new insight into the multi-dimensional dynamics of the neural representations of various functions in the complex human brain.

The contribution of TMS-EEG coregistration in the exploration of the human cortical connectome

Recent developments in neuroscience have emphasised the importance of integrated distributed networks of brain areas for successful cognitive functioning. Our current understanding is that the brain has a modular organisation in which segregated networks supporting specialised processing are linked through a few long-range connections, ensuring processing integration. Although such architecture is structurally stable, it appears to be flexible in its functioning, enabling long-range connections to regulate the information flow and facilitate communication among the relevant modules, depending on the contingent cognitive demands. Here we show how insights brought by the coregistration of transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) integrate and support recent models of functional brain architecture. Moreover, we will highlight the types of data that can be obtained through TMS-EEG, such as the timing of signal propagation, the excitatory/inhibitory nature of connections and causality. Last, we will discuss recent emerging applications of TMS-EEG in the study of brain disorders.

Cortical neurodynamics of inhibitory control

The ability to inhibit prepotent responses is critical for successful goal-directed behaviors. To investigate the neural basis of inhibitory control, we conducted a magnetoencephalography study where human participants performed the antisaccade task. Results indicated that neural oscillations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) showed significant task modulations in preparation to suppress saccades. Before successfully inhibiting a saccade, beta-band power (18-38 Hz) in the lateral PFC and alpha-band power (10-18 Hz) in the frontal eye field (FEF) increased. Trial-by-trial prestimulus FEF alpha-band power predicted successful saccadic inhibition. Further, inhibitory control enhanced cross-frequency amplitude coupling between PFC beta-band (18-38 Hz) activity and FEF alpha-band activity, and the coupling appeared to be initiated by the PFC. Our results suggest a generalized mechanism for top-down inhibitory control: prefrontal beta-band activity initiates alpha-band activity for functional inhibition of the effector and/or sensory system.

Deep brain stimulation in persistent vegetative States: ethical issues governing decision making

The aim of the present paper was to investigate the fundamental ethical issues of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) on patients remaining in Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). First, the purpose of this analysis was to discuss the nature of this intervention in order to classify it such as an ordinary clinical practice, or otherwise as an extraordinary clinical practice or as experimental research. Second, ethical issues, criticisms, and methodological issues of this intervention, also in the future perspectives, are discussed, attempting to identify who could give informed consent for a patient in PVS.

Task-related changes in functional properties of the human brain network underlying attentional control

Previous studies have demonstrated task-related changes in brain activation and inter-regional connectivity but the temporal dynamics of functional properties of the brain during task execution is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated task-related changes in functional properties of the human brain network by applying graph-theoretical analysis to magnetoencephalography (MEG). Subjects performed a cue-target attention task in which a visual cue informed them of the direction of focus for incoming auditory or tactile target stimuli, but not the sensory modality. We analyzed the MEG signal in the cue-target interval to examine network properties during attentional control. Cluster-based non-parametric permutation tests with the Monte-Carlo method showed that in the cue-target interval, beta activity was desynchronized in the sensori-motor region including premotor and posterior parietal regions in the hemisphere contralateral to the attended side. Graph-theoretical analysis revealed that, in beta frequency, global hubs were found around the sensori-motor and prefrontal regions, and functional segregation over the entire network was decreased during attentional control compared to the baseline. Thus, network measures revealed task-related temporal changes in functional properties of the human brain network, leading to the understanding of how the brain dynamically responds to task execution as a network.

Task-related modulation of effective connectivity during perceptual decision making: dissociation between dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortex

The dorsal and ventral parts of the lateral prefrontal cortex have been thought to play distinct roles in decision making. Although its dorsal part such as the frontal eye field (FEF) is shown to play roles in accumulation of sensory information during perceptual decision making, the role of the ventral prefrontal cortex (PFv) is not well-documented. Previous studies have suggested that the PFv is involved in selective attention to the task-relevant information and is associated with accuracy of the behavioral performance. It is unknown, however, whether the accumulation and selection processes are anatomically dissociated between the FEF and PFv. Here we show that, by using concurrent TMS and EEG recording, the short-latency (20-40 ms) TMS-evoked potentials after stimulation of the FEF change as a function of the time to behavioral response, whereas those after stimulation of the PFv change depending on whether the response is correct or not. The potentials after stimulation of either region did not show significant interaction between time to response and performance accuracy, suggesting dissociation between the processes subserved by the FEF and PFv networks. The results are consistent with the idea that the network involving the FEF plays a role in information accumulation, whereas the network involving the PFv plays a role in selecting task relevant information. In addition, stimulation of the FEF and PFv induced activation in common regions in the dorsolateral and medial frontal cortices, suggesting convergence of information processed in the two regions. Taken together, the results suggest dissociation between the FEF and PFv networks for their computational roles in perceptual decision making. The study also highlights the advantage of TMS-EEG technique in investigating the computational processes subserved by the neural network in the human brain with a high temporal resolution.

Has brain imaging discovered anything new about how the brain works?

There have now been roughly 130,000 papers on fMRI. While these have clearly contributed to our understanding of the functional anatomy of the human brain, it is less clear that they have changed the way in which we think about the brain. The issue, in other words, is whether they have established new principles about how the brain works. In this paper we offer as an example one new principle, partly to lay down the criteria that are required for establishing a new principle, and partly to encourage others to offer other principles. Our example concerns the flexible flow of information through the cortex that must occur according to the demands of the task or current context. We suggest that this flexibility is achieved by feedback connections from the prefrontal and parietal cortex, and that these include connections to sensory and motor areas. However, the nature of the selective effect differs. The parietal cortex can select both within and across processing streams. By across streams we mean that it can have the same influence on different streams, for example the dorsal and ventral visual systems. However, only the prefrontal cortex can also select between processing streams. The difference between the prefrontal and parietal effects is due to their different positions within the processing hierarchy.

Task-dependent changes in cortical excitability and effective connectivity: a combined TMS-EEG study

The brain's electrical response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is known to be influenced by exogenous factors such as the frequency and intensity of stimulation and the orientation and positioning of the stimulating coil. Less understood, however, is the influence of endogenous neural factors, such as global brain state, on the TMS-evoked response (TMS-ER). In the present study, we explored how changes in behavioral state affect the TMS-ER by perturbing the superior parietal lobule (SPL) with single pulses of TMS and measuring consequent differences in the frequency, strength, and spatial spread of TMS-evoked currents during the delay period of a spatial short-term memory task and during a period of passive fixation. Results revealed that task performance increased the overall strength of electrical currents induced by TMS, increased the spatial spread of TMS-evoked activity to distal brain regions, and increased the ability of TMS to reset the phase of ongoing broadband cortical oscillations. By contrast, task performance had little effect on the dominant frequency of the TMS-ER, both locally and at distal brain areas. These findings contribute to a growing body of work using combined TMS and neuroimaging methods to explore task-dependent changes in the functional organization of cortical networks implicated in task performance.

Recovery of cortical effective connectivity and recovery of consciousness in vegetative patients

Patients surviving severe brain injury may regain consciousness without recovering their ability to understand, move and communicate. Recently, electrophysiological and neuroimaging approaches, employing simple sensory stimulations or verbal commands, have proven useful in detecting higher order processing and, in some cases, in establishing some degree of communication in brain-injured subjects with severe impairment of motor function. To complement these approaches, it would be useful to develop methods to detect recovery of consciousness in ways that do not depend on the integrity of sensory pathways or on the subject's ability to comprehend or carry out instructions. As suggested by theoretical and experimental work, a key requirement for consciousness is that multiple, specialized cortical areas can engage in rapid causal interactions (effective connectivity). Here, we employ transcranial magnetic stimulation together with high-density electroencephalography to evaluate effective connectivity at the bedside of severely brain injured, non-communicating subjects. In patients in a vegetative state, who were open-eyed, behaviourally awake but unresponsive, transcranial magnetic stimulation triggered a simple, local response indicating a breakdown of effective connectivity, similar to the one previously observed in unconscious sleeping or anaesthetized subjects. In contrast, in minimally conscious patients, who showed fluctuating signs of non-reflexive behaviour, transcranial magnetic stimulation invariably triggered complex activations that sequentially involved distant cortical areas ipsi- and contralateral to the site of stimulation, similar to activations we recorded in locked-in, conscious patients. Longitudinal measurements performed in patients who gradually recovered consciousness revealed that this clear-cut change in effective connectivity could occur at an early stage, before reliable communication was established with the subject and before the spontaneous electroencephalogram showed significant modifications. Measurements of effective connectivity by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography can be performed at the bedside while by-passing subcortical afferent and efferent pathways, and without requiring active participation of subjects or language comprehension; hence, they offer an effective way to detect and track recovery of consciousness in brain-injured patients who are unable to exchange information with the external environment.