Theta-burst Stimulation Modulates Criticality and Cognitive Control
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Summary
The project examines electroencephalography, MRI, and behavioral measures indexing flexibility (critical state dynamics) in the brain when healthy young adults do demanding cognitive tasks, and in response to transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Description
The healthy human brain is a complex, dynamical system which is hypothesized to operate, at rest, near a phase transition - at the boundary between order and chaos. Proximity to this critical point is functionally adaptive as it affords maximal flexibility, dynamic range, and information transmission capacity, with implications for short term memory and cognitive control. Divergence from this critical point has become correlated with diverse forms of psychopathology and neuropathy suggesting that distance from a critical point is both a potential biomarker of disorder and also a target for int…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–45 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Provision of signed and dated informed consent form 2. Stated willingness to comply with all study and availability for the duration of the study 3. Males and females; Ages 18-45 4. Healthy, neurologically normal with no diagnosed mental or physical illness 5. Willingness to adhere to the MRI and two session stimulation protocol 6. Fluent in English 7. Normal or corrected to normal vision 8. At least twelve years of education (high school equivalent) Exclusion Criteria: 1. Ongoing drug or alcohol abuse 2. Diagnosed psychiatric or mental illness 3. Currently taking psy…
Interventions
- Devicetranscranial magnetic stimulation
The study intervention involves modulation of cortical excitation to inhibition (E/I) balance in the right frontal eye field (FEF) by means of 2 trains of spaced continuous or intermittent theta burst stimulation (cTBS, iTBS, respectively) using a transcranial magnetic stimulation device. The endpoint of this stimulation will be a decrease (cTBS) or increase (iTBS) in the local E/I ratio that should last at least 60 minutes post-stimulation (Chung et al., 2016). In separate sessions, all participants will receive either active or stimulation to the FEF. The Investigators will contrast the effects of both iTBS and cTBS to sham stimulation and to each other.
Location
- Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging ResearchPiscataway, New Jersey