Anodal M1 tDCS enhances online learning of rhythmic timing videogame skill
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens (human)
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PROVIDER: S-BSST1355 | biostudies-other |
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): 1
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Since motor learning is a key component for stroke recovery, enhancing motor skill learning is a crucial challenge for neurorehabilitation. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising approach for improving motor learning. The aim of this trial was to test the hypothesis that dual-tDCS applied bilaterally over the primary motor cortices (M1) improves online motor skill learning with the paretic hand and its long-term retention. METHODS:Eighteen chronic stroke patients participated in a randomized, cross-over, placebo-controlled, double bind trial. During separate sessions, dual-tDCS or sham dual-tDCS was applied over 30?min while stroke patients learned a complex visuomotor skill with the paretic hand: using a computer mouse to move a pointer along a complex circuit as quickly and accurately as possible. A learning index involving the evolution of the speed/accuracy trade-off was calculated. Performance of the motor skill was measured at baseline, after intervention and 1?week later. RESULTS:After sham dual-tDCS, eight patients showed performance worsening. In contrast, dual-tDCS enhanced the amount and speed of online motor skill learning compared to sham (p?<?0.001) in all patients; this superiority was maintained throughout the hour following. The speed/accuracy trade-off was shifted more consistently after dual-tDCS (n?=?10) than after sham (n?=?3). More importantly, 1?week later, online enhancement under dual-tDCS had translated into superior long-term retention (+44%) compared to sham (+4%). The improvement generalized to a new untrained circuit and to digital dexterity. CONCLUSION:A single-session of dual-tDCS, applied while stroke patients trained with the paretic hand significantly enhanced online motor skill learning both quantitatively and qualitatively, leading to successful long-term retention and generalization. The combination of motor skill learning and dual-tDCS is promising for improving post-stroke neurorehabilitation.
| S-EPMC3541043 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Previously, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the primary motor cortex (M1) has resulted in improved performance in simple motor tasks. For a complex bimanual movement, studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation indicated the involvement of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as well as left M1. Here we investigated the relative effect of up-regulating the cortical function in left DLPFC and left M1 with tDCS. Participants practised a complex bimanual task over four days while receiving either of five stimulation protocols: anodal tDCS applied over M1, anodal tDCS over DLPFC, sham tDCS over M1, sham tDCS over DLPFC, or no stimulation. Performance was measured at the start and end of each training day to make a distinction between acquisition and consolidation. Although task performance improved over days, no significant difference between stimulation protocols was observed, suggesting that anodal tDCS had little effect on learning the bimanual task regardless of the stimulation sites and learning phase (acquisition or consolidation). Interestingly, cognitive performance as well as corticomotor excitability did not change following stimulation. Accordingly, we found no evidence for behavioural or neurophysiological changes following tDCS over left M1 or left DLPFC in learning a complex bimanual task.
| S-EPMC5078840 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSince a stroke can impair bimanual activities, enhancing bimanual cooperation through motor skill learning may improve neurorehabilitation. Therefore, robotics and neuromodulation with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) are promising approaches. To date, tDCS has failed to enhance bimanual motor control after stroke possibly because it was not integrating the hypothesis that the undamaged hemisphere becomes the major poststroke hub for bimanual control.ObjectiveWe tested the following hypotheses: (I) In patients with chronic hemiparetic stroke training on a robotic device, anodal tDCS applied over the primary motor cortex of the undamaged hemisphere enhances bimanual motor skill learning compared to sham tDCS. (II) The severity of impairment correlates with the effect of tDCS on bimanual motor skill learning. (III) Bimanual motor skill learning is less efficient in patients than in healthy individuals (HI).MethodsA total of 17 patients with chronic hemiparetic stroke and 7 healthy individuals learned a complex bimanual cooperation skill on the REAplan® neurorehabilitation robot. The bimanual speed/accuracy trade-off (biSAT), bimanual coordination (biCo), and bimanual force (biFOP) scores were computed for each performance. In patients, real/sham tDCS was applied in a crossover, randomized, double-blind approach.ResultsCompared to sham, real tDCS did not enhance bimanual motor skill learning, retention, or generalization in patients, and no correlation with impairment was noted. The healthy individuals performed better than patients on bimanual motor skill learning, but generalization was similar in both groups.ConclusionA short motor skill learning session with a robotic device resulted in the retention and generalization of a complex skill involving bimanual cooperation. The tDCS strategy that would best enhance bimanual motor skill learning after stroke remains unknown.Clinical trial registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02308852, identifier: NCT02308852.
| S-EPMC9433746 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Physical exercise promotes motor skill learning in normal individuals and those with neurological disorders but its mechanism of action is unclear. We find that one week of voluntary wheel running enhances the acquisition of motor skills in normal adult mice. One week of running also induces switching from ACh to GABA expression in neurons in the caudal pedunculopontine nucleus (cPPN). Consistent with regulation of motor skills, we show that the switching neurons make projections to the substantia nigra (SN), ventral tegmental area (VTA) and ventrolateral-ventromedial nuclei of the thalamus (VL-VM). Use of viral vectors to override transmitter switching blocks the beneficial effect of running on motor skill learning. We suggest that neurotransmitter switching provides the basis by which sustained running benefits motor skill learning, presenting a target for clinical treatment of movement disorders.
| S-EPMC7198516 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Practice of tasks in an interleaved order generally induces superior learning compared with practicing in a repetitive order, a phenomenon known as the contextual-interference (CI) effect. Increased neural activity during interleaved over repetitive practice has been associated with the beneficial effects of CI. Here, we used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis to investigate whether the neural connectivity of the dorsal premotor (PM) and the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) cortices changes when motor sequences are acquired through interleaved practice. Sixteen adults practiced a serial reaction time task where a set of three 4-element sequences were arranged in a repetitive or in an interleaved order on 2 successive days. On Day 5, participants were tested with practiced sequences to evaluate retention. A within-subjects design was used so that participants practiced sequences in the other condition (repetitive or interleaved) 2-4 weeks later. Functional magnetic resonance images were acquired during practice and retention. On Day 2 of practice, there was greater inter-regional functional connectivity in the interleaved compared with the repetitive condition for both PM-seeded and DLPFC-seeded connectivity. The increased functional connectivity between both seeded regions and sensorimotor cortical areas correlated with the benefit of interleaved practice during later retention. During retention, a significant PPI effect was found in DLPFC-seeded connectivity, with increased DLPFC-supplementary motor area connectivity correlated with the benefits of interleaved practice. These data suggest that interleaved practice benefits learning by enhancing coordination of sensorimotor cortical regions, and superior performance of sequences learned under CI is characterized by increased functional connectivity in frontal cortex.
| S-EPMC6870452 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Rhythmic activity has been associated with a wide range of cognitive processes including the encoding of sensory information, navigation, the transfer of information and others. Rhythmic activity in the brain has also been suggested to be used for multiplexing information. Multiplexing is the ability to transmit more than one signal via the same channel. Here we focus on frequency division multiplexing, in which different signals are transmitted in different frequency bands. Recent work showed that spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) can facilitate the transfer of rhythmic activity downstream the information processing pathway. However, STDP has also been known to generate strong winner-take-all like competition between subgroups of correlated synaptic inputs. This competition between different rhythmicity channels, induced by STDP, may prevent the multiplexing of information. Thus, raising doubts whether STDP is consistent with the idea of multiplexing. This study explores whether STDP can facilitate the multiplexing of information across multiple frequency channels, and if so, under what conditions. We address this question in a modelling study, investigating the STDP dynamics of two populations synapsing downstream onto the same neuron in a feed-forward manner. Each population was assumed to exhibit rhythmic activity, albeit in a different frequency band. Our theory reveals that the winner-take-all like competitions between the two populations is limited, in the sense that different rhythmic populations will not necessarily fully suppress each other. Furthermore, we found that for a wide range of parameters, the network converged to a solution in which the downstream neuron responded to both rhythms. Yet, the synaptic weights themselves did not converge to a fixed point, rather remained dynamic. These findings imply that STDP can support the multiplexing of rhythmic information, and demonstrate how functionality (multiplexing of information) can be retained in the face of continuous remodeling of all the synaptic weights. The constraints on the types of STDP rules that can support multiplexing provide a natural test for our theory.
| S-EPMC7351241 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMotor training alone or combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) positioned over the motor cortex (M1) improves motor function in chronic stroke. Currently, understanding of how tDCS influences the process of motor skill learning after stroke is lacking.ObjectiveTo assess the effects of tDCS on the stages of motor skill learning and on generalization to untrained motor function.MethodsIn this randomized, sham-controlled, blinded study of 56 mildly impaired chronic stroke patients, tDCS (anode over the ipsilesional M1 and cathode on the contralesional forehead) was applied during 5 days of training on an unfamiliar, challenging fine motor skill task (sequential visual isometric pinch force task). We assessed online and offline learning during the training period and retention over the following 4 months. We additionally assessed the generalization to untrained tasks.ResultsWith training alone (sham tDCS group), patients acquired a novel motor skill. This skill improved online, remained stable during the offline periods and was largely retained at follow-up. When tDCS was added to training (real tDCS group), motor skill significantly increased relative to sham, mostly in the online stage. Long-term retention was not affected by tDCS. Training effects generalized to untrained tasks, but those performance gains were not enhanced further by tDCS.ConclusionsTraining of an unfamiliar skill task represents a strategy to improve fine motor function in chronic stroke. tDCS augments motor skill learning, but its additive effect is restricted to the trained skill.
| S-EPMC6350256 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The acquisition of basic surgical skills is a key component of medical education and trainees in laparoscopic surgery typically begin developing their skills using simulation box trainers. However, despite the advantages of simulation surgical training, access can be difficult for many trainees. One technique that has shown promise to enhance the deliberate practice of motor skills is transcranial electric stimulation (tES). The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on training induced improvements and retention of traditional time and kinematic based laparoscopic surgical skill metrics. Forty-nine medical students were randomly allocated to a neurostimulation or sham group and completed 5 training sessions of a bead transfer and threading laparoscopic task. Participants in both the sham and stimulation groups significantly improved their time and kinematic performance on both tasks following training. Although we did find that participants who received M1 tDCS saw greater performance benefits in response to training on a bead transfer task compared to those receiving sham stimulation no effect of neurostimulation was found for the threading task. This finding raises new questions regarding the effect that motor task complexity has on the efficacy of neurostimulation to augment training induced improvement and contributes to a growing body of research investigating the effects of neurostimulation on the sensory-motor performance of laparoscopic surgical skill.
| S-EPMC10447451 | biostudies-literature
Project description: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.
| S-EPMC10620076 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Concurrent feedback provided during acquisition can enhance performance of novel tasks. The 'guidance hypothesis' predicts that feedback provision leads to dependence and poor performance in its absence. However, appropriately structured feedback information provided through sound ('sonification') may not be subject to this effect. We test this directly using a rhythmic bimanual shape-tracing task in which participants learned to move at a 4:3 timing ratio. Sonification of movement and demonstration was compared to two other learning conditions: (1) Sonification of task demonstration alone and (2) completely silent practice (control). Sonification of movement emerged as the most effective form of practice, reaching significantly lower error scores than control. Sonification of solely the demonstration, which was expected to benefit participants by perceptually unifying task requirements, did not lead to better performance than control. Good performance was maintained by participants in the Sonification condition in an immediate retention test without feedback, indicating that the use of this feedback can overcome the guidance effect. On a 24-h retention test, performance had declined and was equal between groups. We argue that this and similar findings in the feedback literature are best explained by an ecological approach to motor skill learning which places available perceptual information at the highest level of importance.
| S-EPMC5486555 | biostudies-literature