Bryan S Baxter1, Bradley J Edelman1, Nicholas Nesbitt1, Bin He2. 1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. 2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA; Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Electronic address: binhe@umn.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used to alter the excitability of neurons within the cerebral cortex. Improvements in motor learning have been found in multiple studies when tDCS was applied to the motor cortex before or during task learning. The motor cortex is also active during the performance of motor imagination, a cognitive task during which a person imagines, but does not execute, a movement. Motor imagery can be used with noninvasive brain computer interfaces (BCIs) to control virtual objects in up to three dimensions, but to master control of such devices requires long training times. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of high-definition tDCS on the performance and underlying electrophysiology of motor imagery based BCI. METHODS: We utilize high-definition tDCS to investigate the effect of stimulation on motor imagery-based BCI performance across and within sessions over multiple training days. RESULTS: We report a decreased time-to-hit with anodal stimulation both within and across sessions. We also found differing electrophysiological changes of the stimulated sensorimotor cortex during online BCI task performance for left vs. right trials. Cathodal stimulation led to a decrease in alpha and beta band power during task performance compared to sham stimulation for right hand imagination trials. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that unilateral tDCS over the sensorimotor motor cortex differentially affects cortical areas based on task specific neural activation.
BACKGROUND: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used to alter the excitability of neurons within the cerebral cortex. Improvements in motor learning have been found in multiple studies when tDCS was applied to the motor cortex before or during task learning. The motor cortex is also active during the performance of motor imagination, a cognitive task during which a person imagines, but does not execute, a movement. Motor imagery can be used with noninvasive brain computer interfaces (BCIs) to control virtual objects in up to three dimensions, but to master control of such devices requires long training times. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of high-definition tDCS on the performance and underlying electrophysiology of motor imagery based BCI. METHODS: We utilize high-definition tDCS to investigate the effect of stimulation on motor imagery-based BCI performance across and within sessions over multiple training days. RESULTS: We report a decreased time-to-hit with anodal stimulation both within and across sessions. We also found differing electrophysiological changes of the stimulated sensorimotor cortex during online BCI task performance for left vs. right trials. Cathodal stimulation led to a decrease in alpha and beta band power during task performance compared to sham stimulation for right hand imagination trials. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that unilateral tDCS over the sensorimotor motor cortex differentially affects cortical areas based on task specific neural activation.
Authors: Michael A Nitsche; Astrid Schauenburg; Nicolas Lang; David Liebetanz; Cornelia Exner; Walter Paulus; Frithjof Tergau Journal: J Cogn Neurosci Date: 2003-05-15 Impact factor: 3.225
Authors: Janine Reis; Heidi M Schambra; Leonardo G Cohen; Ethan R Buch; Brita Fritsch; Eric Zarahn; Pablo A Celnik; John W Krakauer Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2009-01-21 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Jianjun Meng; John Mundahl; Taylor Streitz; Kaitlin Maile; Nicholas Gulachek; Jeffrey He; Bin He Journal: IEEE Access Date: 2017-09-11 Impact factor: 3.367
Authors: James R Stieger; Stephen Engel; Haiteng Jiang; Christopher C Cline; Mary Jo Kreitzer; Bin He Journal: Cereb Cortex Date: 2021-01-01 Impact factor: 5.357