TUNING-BRAKES · Fine-tuning the brain’s brakes – modulating inhibitory control with transcranial alternating current stimulation
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-03-01 → 2022-10-23
- EU contribution
- €165,599
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Fine-tuning the brain’s brakes – modulating inhibitory control with transcranial alternating current stimulation
Inhibitory control, or the ability to suppress unwanted thoughts or behaviour, is essential in everyday life, yet often underappreciated. The critical importance of inhibition becomes clear when the process fails, as in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Tourette’s syndrome where there is too little inhibition, or as in Parkinson’s disease where there is too much, resulting in slowness of movement (bradykinesia) and rigidity. Over the past decade, lesion studies, single cell recordings and neuroimaging research have identified a fronto-subthalamic network mediating behavioural inhibition. The power (i.e. amplitude) of oscillations in the beta band (15-30Hz) within these regions has been linked to successful inhibition. However, very little is known about how beta oscillations facilitate communication between the different cortical and subcortical areas. This not only limits our mechanistic understanding of the brain’s inhibitory control system, it also hampers the development of more effective treatment strategies for neurological and psychiatric patients suffering from inhibitory control deficits. The overarching aim of this proposal was to identify oscillatory signatures that are causally relevant for inhibitory control, and to develop an innovative neuromodulatory approach to restore normal inhibitory control. Specifically, we made use of novel transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) approaches, capable of dynamically synchronising or desynchronising oscillatory activity, to (1) Investigate the causal role of beta oscillatory phase (WP1), and cross-frequency coupling between the beta and gamma frequencies (WP2). (2) Develop a proof of concept for a non-invasive adaptive stimulation approach to ameliorate abnormal neural communication (WP3).
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Inhibitory control over unwanted thoughts, emotions and movements is essential for effective interaction with our environment. This becomes particularly evident when there is too little inhibition, as in obsessive-compulsive disorder or Tourette’s syndrome, or too much, as in Parkinson’s disease. Recent evidence links successful inhibition to the power of neural oscillations in the beta band (15-30Hz) in a circuit involving the frontal cortex and the subthalamic nucleus. While this is an important step forward, it is not yet sufficient to develop effective neuromodulatory treatments for inhibitory control disorders. For that, we need to understand how the beta oscillations mediate neuronal communication within the fronto-subthalamic circuit.In this proposal, I address this challenging question through novel applications of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). This non-invasive brain stimulation technique aligns neuronal oscillations to an oscillating low-intensity electrical current applied to the brain. This external control over oscillatory power and phase will allow me to investigate: (1) the functional relevance of beta oscillatory phase, and (2) the causal role of interactions between beta oscillations and other frequency bands (‘cross-frequency coupling’). Subsequently, I will develop an innovative, non-invasive, treatment strategy for inhibitory control deficits, by recording and modulating abnormal circuit activity only when present. Maastricht University is the ideal place to perform this research program as it is one of the only institutes in the world that has access to a new generation of deep brain stimulators, enabling concurrent recording of cortical and subthalamic activity, and it houses one of the pioneering groups in using oscillation-based non-invasive brain stimulation. Integration within this multidisciplinary team will offer an exceptional opportunity to increase my skill set, and capability to launch my own research group.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT · MaastrichtCoordinatorNetherlands
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union