Modulation of Cognitive Control Signals in Prefrontal Cortex by Rhythmic Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
NCT ID: NCT03828734
Last Updated: 2020-11-19
Study Results
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View full resultsBasic Information
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COMPLETED
NA
58 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2019-02-13
2019-11-22
Brief Summary
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Participants: Participants must be healthy, between the ages of 18 and 35, right handed, able to provide informed consent, willing to comply with all study procedures, and be available for the duration of the study, speak and understand English.
Procedures: Alpha and theta brain oscillations will be measured and then entrained using frequency specific rhythmic TMS during a retrospective cued cognitive control task.
Detailed Description
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Previous evidence has implicated neural activity in the alpha band (8-12 Hz) in information suppression and activity in the theta band (4-7 Hz) in information prioritization. Cognitive control task paradigms have been shown to elicit distinct activity in both of these bands. In this task, the stimuli are lateralized to the right and left visual field during encoding. After a short delay, a cue informs participants which stimuli (right or left) will be tested. Previous evidence found that alpha activity in parietal cortex is generated contralateral to irrelevant stimuli-supporting the role of alpha in information suppression-while theta activity in frontal cortex increases with the number of stimuli to be remembered-supporting the role of theta in information prioritization.
For the current study, the investigators propose to deliver rhythmic trains of TMS in either alpha frequency, theta frequency, or an arrhythmic control to modulate neural processing during a cognitive control task. By collecting simultaneous EEG with TMS, the investigators will be able to measure the entrained oscillations from rhythmic TMS. The goal of this experiment is to enhance the observed theta and alpha activity that is seen with the successful prioritization and suppression of information. To provide causal evidence that parietal cortex generates alpha activity and frontal cortex generates theta activity, the investigators will apply rhythmic TMS stimulation to two scalp locations: the anterior middle frontal gyrus and inferior intraparietal sulcus. By applying alpha frequency, theta frequency, and arrhythmic TMS at each location, the investigators will be able to examine the causal relationship of frontal theta oscillations in information prioritization and parietal alpha oscillations in information suppression.
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
CROSSOVER
BASIC_SCIENCE
NONE
Study Groups
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TMS to frontal cortex followed by TMS to parietal cortex
Participants will receive TMS while performing a cognitive control task. In their first stimulation session, the TMS coil will be placed over the frontal cortex on the scalp. In their second session, the TMS coil will be placed over the parietal cortex on the scalp. During every session, subjects receive Theta TMS, Alpha TMS, and Arrhythmic TMS.
Theta TMS
TMS will be administered at the frequency of each subject's endogenous theta oscillation (4-7Hz)
Alpha TMS
TMS will be administered at the frequency of each subject's endogenous alpha oscillation (8-12 Hz)
Arrhythmic TMS
TMS will be administered arrhythmically; i.e. a sequence of pulses with randomized timing
TMS to parietal cortex followed by TMS to frontal cortex
Participants will receive TMS while performing a cognitive control task. In their first stimulation session, the TMS coil will be placed over the parietal cortex on the scalp. In their second session, the TMS coil will be placed over the frontal cortex on the scalp. During every session, subjects receive Theta TMS, Alpha TMS, and Arrhythmic TMS.
Theta TMS
TMS will be administered at the frequency of each subject's endogenous theta oscillation (4-7Hz)
Alpha TMS
TMS will be administered at the frequency of each subject's endogenous alpha oscillation (8-12 Hz)
Arrhythmic TMS
TMS will be administered arrhythmically; i.e. a sequence of pulses with randomized timing
Interventions
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Theta TMS
TMS will be administered at the frequency of each subject's endogenous theta oscillation (4-7Hz)
Alpha TMS
TMS will be administered at the frequency of each subject's endogenous alpha oscillation (8-12 Hz)
Arrhythmic TMS
TMS will be administered arrhythmically; i.e. a sequence of pulses with randomized timing
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Between the ages of 18 and 35
* Right handed
* Able to provide informed consent
* Willing to comply with all study procedures
* Available for the duration of the study
* Speak and understand English.
Exclusion Criteria
* Neurological disorders and conditions, including, but not limited to: History of epilepsy Seizures (except childhood febrile seizures) -Dementia
* History of stroke
* Parkinson's disease
* Multiple sclerosis
* Cerebral aneurysm
* Brain tumors
* Medical or neurological illness or treatment for a medical disorder that could interfere with study participation (e.g., unstable cardiac disease, HIV/AIDS, malignancy, liver or renal impairment)
* Prior brain surgery -Any brain devices/implants, including cochlear implants and aneurysm clips -Cardiac pacemaker -Any other implanted electronic device -History of current traumatic brain injury -(For females) Pregnancy or breast feeding -Anything that, in the opinion of the investigator, would place the participant at increased risk or preclude the participant's full compliance with or completion of the study
18 Years
35 Years
ALL
Yes
Sponsors
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National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
NIH
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Principal Investigators
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Flavio Frohlich, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Locations
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Countries
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References
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Albouy P, Weiss A, Baillet S, Zatorre RJ. Selective Entrainment of Theta Oscillations in the Dorsal Stream Causally Enhances Auditory Working Memory Performance. Neuron. 2017 Apr 5;94(1):193-206.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.015. Epub 2017 Mar 23.
Roux F, Uhlhaas PJ. Working memory and neural oscillations: alpha-gamma versus theta-gamma codes for distinct WM information? Trends Cogn Sci. 2014 Jan;18(1):16-25. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2013.10.010. Epub 2013 Nov 19.
Fries P. Rhythms for Cognition: Communication through Coherence. Neuron. 2015 Oct 7;88(1):220-35. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.034.
Hanslmayr S, Matuschek J, Fellner MC. Entrainment of prefrontal beta oscillations induces an endogenous echo and impairs memory formation. Curr Biol. 2014 Apr 14;24(8):904-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.007. Epub 2014 Mar 27.
Klimesch W, Sauseng P, Hanslmayr S. EEG alpha oscillations: the inhibition-timing hypothesis. Brain Res Rev. 2007 Jan;53(1):63-88. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2006.06.003. Epub 2006 Aug 1.
Popov T, Popova P, Harkotte M, Awiszus B, Rockstroh B, Miller GA. Cross-frequency interactions between frontal theta and posterior alpha control mechanisms foster working memory. Neuroimage. 2018 Nov 1;181:728-733. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.07.067. Epub 2018 Jul 31.
Reinhart RMG. Disruption and rescue of interareal theta phase coupling and adaptive behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Oct 24;114(43):11542-11547. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1710257114. Epub 2017 Oct 9.
Romei V, Thut G, Silvanto J. Information-Based Approaches of Noninvasive Transcranial Brain Stimulation. Trends Neurosci. 2016 Nov;39(11):782-795. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2016.09.001. Epub 2016 Sep 30.
Thut G, Veniero D, Romei V, Miniussi C, Schyns P, Gross J. Rhythmic TMS causes local entrainment of natural oscillatory signatures. Curr Biol. 2011 Jul 26;21(14):1176-85. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.05.049. Epub 2011 Jun 30.
Wallis G, Stokes M, Cousijn H, Woolrich M, Nobre AC. Frontoparietal and Cingulo-opercular Networks Play Dissociable Roles in Control of Working Memory. J Cogn Neurosci. 2015 Oct;27(10):2019-34. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00838. Epub 2015 Jun 4.
Wang XJ. Neurophysiological and computational principles of cortical rhythms in cognition. Physiol Rev. 2010 Jul;90(3):1195-268. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00035.2008.
Wolinski N, Cooper NR, Sauseng P, Romei V. The speed of parietal theta frequency drives visuospatial working memory capacity. PLoS Biol. 2018 Mar 14;16(3):e2005348. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2005348. eCollection 2018 Mar.
Rouder JN, Morey RD, Morey CC, Cowan N. How to measure working memory capacity in the change detection paradigm. Psychon Bull Rev. 2011 Apr;18(2):324-30. doi: 10.3758/s13423-011-0055-3.
Provided Documents
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Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan
Other Identifiers
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18-1789
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id