Reliability of cortical activity during natural stimulation.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Hasson U
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2818432 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Reliability of cortical activity during natural stimulation.
Hasson Uri U Malach Rafael R Heeger David J DJ
Trends in cognitive sciences 20091211 1
Response reliability is complementary to more conventional measurements of response amplitudes, and can reveal phenomena that response amplitudes do not. Here we review studies that measured reliability of cortical activity within or between human subjects in response to naturalistic stimulation (e.g. free viewing of movies). Despite the seemingly uncontrolled nature of the task, some of these complex stimuli evoke highly reliable, selective and time-locked activity in many brain areas, includin ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:The use of natural stimuli in neurophysiological studies has led to significant insights into the encoding strategies used by sensory neurons. To investigate these encoding strategies in vestibular receptors and neurons, we have developed a method for calculating the stimuli delivered to a vestibular organ, the utricle, during natural (unrestrained) behaviors, using the turtle as our experimental preparation. High-speed digital video sequences are used to calculate the dynamic gravito-inertial (GI) vector acting on the head during behavior. X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans are used to determine the orientation of the otoconial layer (OL) of the utricle within the head, and the calculated GI vectors are then rotated into the plane of the OL. Thus, the method allows us to quantify the spatio-temporal structure of stimuli to the OL during natural behaviors. In the future, these waveforms can be used as stimuli in neurophysiological experiments to understand how natural signals are encoded by vestibular receptors and neurons. We provide one example of the method, which shows that turtle feeding behaviors can stimulate the utricle at frequencies higher than those typically used in vestibular studies. This method can be adapted to other species, to other vestibular end organs, and to other methods of quantifying head movements.
| S-EPMC3463745 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionLike alpha rhythm, the somatosensory mu rhythm is suppressed in the presence of somatosensory inputs by implying cortical excitation. Sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) can be classified into two oscillatory frequency components: mu rhythm (8-13 Hz) and beta rhythm (14-25 Hz). The suppressed/enhanced SMR is a neural correlate of cortical activation related to efferent and afferent movement information. Therefore, it would be necessary to understand cortical information processing in diverse movement situations for clinical applications.MethodsIn this work, the EEG of 10 healthy volunteers was recorded while fingers were moved passively under different kinetic and kinematic conditions for proprioceptive stimulation. For the kinetics aspect, afferent brain activity (no simultaneous volition) was compared under two conditions of finger extension: (1) generated by an orthosis and (2) generated by the orthosis simultaneously combined and assisted with functional electrical stimulation (FES) applied at the forearm muscles related to finger extension. For the kinematic aspect, the finger extension was divided into two phases: (1) dynamic extension and (2) static extension (holding the extended position).ResultsIn the kinematic aspect, both mu and beta rhythms were more suppressed during a dynamic than a static condition. However, only the mu rhythm showed a significant difference between kinetic conditions (with and without FES) affected by attention to proprioception after transitioning from dynamic to static state, but the beta rhythm was not.DiscussionOur results indicate that mu rhythm was influenced considerably by muscle kinetics during finger movement produced by external devices, which has relevant implications for the design of neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation interventions.
| S-EPMC10070684 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is being used increasingly to treat a wide array of diseases and disorders. This growth is driven in part by the putative ability to stimulate the nerve non-invasively. Despite decades of use and a rapidly expanding application space, we lack a complete understanding of the acute effects of VNS on human cortical neurophysiology. Here, we investigated cortical responses to sub-perceptual threshold cervical implanted (iVNS) and transcutaneous auricular (taVNS) vagus nerve stimulation using intracranial neurophysiological recordings in human epilepsy patients. To understand the areas that are modulated by VNS and how they differ depending on invasiveness and stimulation parameters, we compared VNS-evoked neural activity across a range of stimulation modalities, frequencies, and amplitudes. Using comparable stimulation parameters, both iVNS and taVNS caused subtle changes in low-frequency power across broad cortical networks, which were not the same across modalities and were highly variable across participants. However, within at least some individuals, it may be possible to elicit similar responses across modalities using distinct sets of stimulation parameters. These results demonstrate that both invasive and non-invasive VNS cause evoked changes in activity across a set of highly distributed cortical networks that are relevant to a diverse array of clinical, rehabilitative, and enhancement applications.
| S-EPMC8611055 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Paired-pulse depression (PPD) has been widely used to investigate the functional profiles of somatosensory cortical inhibition. However, PPD induced by somatosensory stimulation is variable, and the reasons for between- and within-subject PPD variability remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to clarify the factors influencing PPD variability induced by somatosensory stimulation. The study participants were 19 healthy volunteers. First, we investigated the relationship between the PPD ratio of each component (N20m, P35m, and P60m) of the somatosensory magnetic field, and the alpha, beta, and gamma band changes in power [event-related desynchronization (ERD) and event-related synchronization (ERS)] induced by median nerve stimulation. Second, because brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene polymorphisms reportedly influence the PPD ratio, we assessed whether BDNF genotype influences PPD ratio variability. Finally, we evaluated the test-retest reliability of PPD and the alpha, beta, and gamma ERD/ERS induced by somatosensory stimulation. Significant positive correlations were observed between the P60m_PPD ratio and beta power change, and the P60m_PPD ratio was significantly smaller for the beta ERD group than for the beta ERS group. P35m_PPD was found to be robust and highly reproducible; however, P60m_PPD reproducibility was poor. In addition, the ICC values for alpha, beta, and gamma ERD/ERS were 0.680, 0.760, and 0.552 respectively. These results suggest that the variability of PPD for the P60m deflection may be influenced by the ERD/ERS magnitude, which is induced by median nerve stimulation.
| S-EPMC6097743 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cultures of dissociated cortical neurons represent a powerful trade-off between more realistic experimental models and abstract modeling approaches, allowing to investigate mechanisms of synchronized activity generation. These networks spontaneously alternate periods of high activity (i.e. network bursts) with periods of quiescence in a dynamic state which recalls the fluctuation of in vivo UP and DOWN states. Network bursts can also be elicited by external stimulation and their spatial propagation patterns tracked by means of multi-channel micro-electrode arrays. In this study, we used rat cortical cultures coupled to micro-electrode arrays to investigate the similarity between spontaneous and evoked activity patterns. We performed experiments by applying electrical stimulation to different network locations and demonstrated that the rank orders of electrodes during evoked and spontaneous events are remarkably similar independently from the stimulation source. We linked this result to the capability of stimulation to evoke firing in highly active and "leader" sites of the network, reliably and rapidly recruited within both spontaneous and evoked bursts. Our study provides the first evidence that spontaneous and evoked activity similarity is reliably observed also in dissociated cortical networks.
| S-EPMC5567348 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBrain's is stimulated by Vojta Therapy through selected body areas activating stored innate motor programs which are exported as coordinate movement and muscle contractions to trunk and limbs. The aim of this pilot study is to know the responses at cortical level to a specific tactile input, assessed by electroencephalography (EEG), compared to a sham stimulation, in healthy subjects.MethodsA randomized-controlled trial was conducted. Participants were randomly distributed into two groups: a non-specific tactile input-group (non-STI-group) (n = 20) and a Vojta specific tactile input-group (V-STI-group) (n = 20). The non-STI-group was stimulated in a non specific area (quadriceps distal area) and V-STI-group was stimulated in a specific area (intercostal space, at the mammillary line between the 7th and 8th ribs) according to the Vojta therapy. Recording was performed with EEG for 10 min considering a first minute of rest, 8 min during the stimulus and 1 min after the stimulus. EEG activity was recorded from 32 positions with active Ag/AgCl scalp electrodes following the 10-20 system. The continuous EEG signal was split into consecutive segments of one minute.ResultsThe V-STI-group showed statistically significant differences in the theta, low alpha and high alpha bands, bilaterally in the supplementary motor (SMA) and premotor (PMA) areas (BA6 and BA8), superior parietal cortex (BA5, BA7) and the posterior cingulate cortex (BA23, BA31). For the V-STI-group, all frequency bands presented an initial bilateral activation of the superior and medial SMA (BA6) during the first minute. This activation was maintained until the fourth minute. During the fourth minute, the activation decreased in the three frequency bands. From the fifth minute, the activation in the superior and medial SMA rose again in the three frequency bands CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight that the specific stimulation area at intercostal space, on the mammillary line between 7 and 8th ribs according to Vojta therapy differentially increased bilateral activation in SMA (BA6) and Pre-SMA (BA8), BA5, BA7, BA23 and BA31 in the theta, low and high alpha bands in healthy subjects. These results could indicate the activation of innate locomotor circuits during stimulation of the pectoral area according to the Vojta therapy. Trial registration Retrospectively registered. This randomized controlled trial has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04317950 (March 23, 2020).
| S-EPMC7818565 | biostudies-literature
Project description:During natural vision, the entire visual field is stimulated by images rich in spatiotemporal structure. Although many visual system studies restrict stimuli to the classical receptive field (CRF), it is known that costimulation of the CRF and the surrounding nonclassical receptive field (nCRF) increases neuronal response sparseness. The cellular and network mechanisms underlying increased response sparseness remain largely unexplored. Here we show that combined CRF + nCRF stimulation increases the sparseness, reliability, and precision of spiking and membrane potential responses in classical regular spiking (RS(C)) pyramidal neurons of cat primary visual cortex. Conversely, fast-spiking interneurons exhibit increased activity and decreased selectivity during CRF + nCRF stimulation. The increased sparseness and reliability of RS(C) neuron spiking is associated with increased inhibitory barrages and narrower visually evoked synaptic potentials. Our experimental observations were replicated with a simple computational model, suggesting that network interactions among neuronal subtypes ultimately sharpen recurrent excitation, producing specific and reliable visual responses.
| S-EPMC3110675 | biostudies-other
Project description:The present study verified if the translational component of locomotion modulated cortical activity recorded at action observation. Previous studies focusing on visual processing of biological motion mainly presented point light walker that were fixed on a spot, thus removing the net translation toward a goal that yet remains a critical feature of locomotor behavior. We hypothesized that if biological motion recognition relies on the transformation of seeing in doing and its expected sensory consequences, a significant effect of translation compared to centered displays on sensorimotor cortical activity is expected. To this aim, we explored whether EEG activity in the theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), beta 1 (14-20 Hz) and beta 2 (20-32 Hz) frequency bands exhibited selectivity as participants viewed four types of stimuli: a centered walker, a centered scrambled, a translating walker and a translating scrambled. We found higher theta synchronizations for observed stimulus with familiar shape. Higher power decreases in the beta 1 and beta 2 bands, indicating a stronger motor resonance was elicited by translating compared to centered stimuli. Finally, beta bands modulation in Superior Parietal areas showed that the translational component of locomotion induced greater motor resonance than human shape. Using a Multinomial Logistic Regression classifier we found that Dorsal-Parietal and Inferior-Frontal regions of interest (ROIs), constituting the core of action-observation system, were the only areas capable to discriminate all the four conditions, as reflected by beta activities. Our findings suggest that the embodiment elicited by an observed scenario is strongly mediated by horizontal body displacement.
| S-EPMC5681993 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cortical stimulation has been used for brain mapping for over a century, and a standard assumption is that stimulation interferes with task execution due to local effects at the stimulation site. Stimulation can however produce afterdischarges which interfere with functional localization and can lead to unwanted seizures. We previously showed that (a) cognitive effort can terminate these afterdischarges, (b) when termination thus occurs, there are electrocorticography changes throughout the cortex, not just at sites with afterdischarges or sites thought functionally important for the cognitive task used, and (c) thresholds for afterdischarges and functional responses can change among stimulation trials. We here show that afterdischarge termination can occur prior to overt performance of the cognitive tasks used to terminate them. These findings, taken together, demonstrate that task-related brain changes are not limited to one or a group of functional regions or a specific network, and not limited to the time directly surrounding overt task execution. Discrete locations, networks and times importantly underpin clinical behaviors. However, brain activity that is diffuse in location and extended in time also affect task execution and can affect brain mapping. This may in part reflect fluctuating levels of attention, engagement, or motivation during testing.
| S-EPMC7862320 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Sleep slow-wave activity (SWA) is thought to reflect sleep need, increasing in proportion to the previous time awake and decreasing during sleep, although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Recent studies have shown that procedures presumably leading to local plastic changes in the cerebral cortex can lead to local changes in SWA during subsequent sleep. To further investigate the connection between cortical plasticity and sleep SWA, in this study we used a paired associative stimulation (PAS) protocol, in which median nerve stimuli were followed at different intervals (25 or 10 ms) by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses to the contralateral cortical hand area. As expected, such a protocol led to a sustained increase (long-term potentiation-like) or decrease (long-term depression-like) of cortical excitability as measured by motor evoked potentials. By using a TMS-compatible high-density electroencephalographic (EEG) system, we also found that, in individual subjects, TMS-evoked cortical responses over sensorimotor cortex changed with different interstimulus intervals. Moreover, during subsequent sleep, SWA increased locally in subjects whose TMS-evoked cortical responses had increased after PAS, and decreased in subjects whose cortical responses had decreased. Changes in TMS-evoked cortical EEG response and change in sleep SWA were localized to similar cortical regions and were positively correlated. Together, these results suggest that changes in cortical excitability in opposite directions lead to corresponding changes in local sleep regulation, as reflected by SWA, providing evidence for a tight relationship between cortical plasticity and sleep intensity.
| S-EPMC2809373 | biostudies-literature