Studying the Role of Human Parietal Cortex in Visuospatial Attention with Concurrent TMS-fMRI

Blankenburg, Felix; Ruff, Christian C.; Bestmann, Sven; Bjoertomt, Otto; Josephs, Oliver; Deichmann, Ralf; Driver, Jon

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhq015

Cited by 119 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 65 publications

(138 reference statements)

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“…So far, there is no evidence that significant and behaviorally relevant topdown effects in higher-order areas can be induced indirectly by bottom-up effects caused by TMS stimulation of V1. More importantly, remote TMS-induced effects are state dependent in the sense that local increases in activation and interareal functional coupling induced by TMS are stronger when the targeted site belongs to an active network (Morishima et al, 2009;Blankenburg et al, 2010). Consequently, in our study, indirect remote effects in high-level areas induced by TMS to V1 should be strongest when low-and high-level areas are coupled.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Posttraining Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Striate Cortex Disrupts Consolidation Early in Visual Skill Learning

et al. 2012

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Practice-induced improvements in skilled performance reflect "offline " consolidation processes extending beyond daily training sessions. According to visual learning theories, an early, fast learning phase driven by high-level areas is followed by a late, asymptotic learning phase driven by low-level, retinotopic areas when higher resolution is required. Thus, low-level areas would not contribute to learning and offline consolidation until late learning. Recent studies have challenged this notion, demonstrating modified responses to trained stimuli in primary visual cortex (V1) and offline activity after very limited training. However, the behavioral relevance of modified V1 activity for offline consolidation of visual skill memory in V1 after early training sessions remains unclear. Here, we used neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) directed to a trained retinotopic V1 location to test for behaviorally relevant consolidation in human low-level visual cortex. Applying TMS to the trained V1 location within 45 min of the first or second training session strongly interfered with learning, as measured by impaired performance the next day. The interference was conditional on task context and occurred only when training in the location targeted by TMS was followed by training in a second location before TMS. In this condition, high-level areas may become coupled to the second location and uncoupled from the previously trained low-level representation, thereby rendering consolidation vulnerable to interference. Our data show that, during the earliest phases of skill learning in the lowest-level visual areas, a behaviorally relevant form of consolidation exists of which the robustness is controlled by high-level, contextual factors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Posttraining Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Striate Cortex Disrupts Consolidation Early in Visual Skill Learning

et al. 2012

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“…High-vs. low-intensity TMS did not alter behavioral performance, consistent with our intended use of TMS as a physiological probe (19,20). For each participant, mean proportion correct and median reaction times (milliseconds) were calculated for each condition (Table 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Moreover, such communication (or functional coupling) of the stimulated region with other brain areas can change in a dynamic fashion, thereby permitting assessment of task context-dependent activity propagation within brain networks (19). Recent studies with TMS-fMRI (20,21) or TMS-EEG (22,23) have validated the approach of using TMS as a causal "physiological probe" during behavior, when stimulation modulates remote BOLD responses (or evoked potentials) in a condition-dependent manner, yet does not disrupt task performance. Such an approach also permits study of functional coupling patterns under behaviorally "normal" conditions (thereby avoiding the complications of interpreting neural changes associated with behavioral disruption).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Causal evidence for frontal involvement in memory target maintenance by posterior brain areas during distracter interference of visual working memory

Feredoes

Heinen

Weiskopf

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

175

172

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Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is recruited during visual working memory (WM) when relevant information must be maintained in the presence of distracting information. The mechanism by which DLPFC might ensure successful maintenance of the contents of WM is, however, unclear; it might enhance neural maintenance of memory targets or suppress processing of distracters. To adjudicate between these possibilities, we applied time-locked transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) during functional MRI, an approach that permits causal assessment of a stimulated brain region's influence on connected brain regions, and evaluated how this influence may change under different task conditions. Participants performed a visual WM task requiring retention of visual stimuli (faces or houses) across a delay during which visual distracters could be present or absent. When distracters were present, they were always from the opposite stimulus category, so that targets and distracters were represented in distinct posterior cortical areas. We then measured whether DLPFC-TMS, administered in the delay at the time point when distracters could appear, would modulate posterior regions representing memory targets or distracters. We found that DLPFC-TMS influenced posterior areas only when distracters were present and, critically, that this influence consisted of increased activity in regions representing the current memory targets. DLPFC-TMS did not affect regions representing current distracters. These results provide a new line of causal evidence for a top-down DLPFC-based control mechanism that promotes successful maintenance of relevant information in WM in the presence of distraction.external interference | top-down control D orsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has long been associated with visual working memory (WM) function, with current models suggesting that it is a source of top-down control over posterior regions maintaining information across the short term (1, 2). One such control process is that of resistance to external distraction, when the appearance of irrelevant information in the visual scene could potentially interfere with maintenance of visual memoranda (3). Moreover, recent studies suggest that filtering of irrelevant information is one important determinant of WM capacity (4, 5), as irrelevant information may occupy limited storage resources that could otherwise be devoted to maintaining relevant information (4). Human lesion (6) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies (7-9) indicate a specific role for the DLPFC when external distraction must be overcome during the maintenance phase of WM. However, little causal, temporally specific evidence exists on whether DLPFC acts during delays to suppress further processing of distracters (6,8,9) or whether it instead enhances neural representations of the maintained targets to protect them (7,10,11). One striking aspect of DLPFC responses is that they typically concern relevant stimuli (targets) but not irrelevant information (distracters) (11), inc...

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“…To facilitate neurofeedback learning, participants were encouraged to covertly direct attention to the visual field contralateral to the ROI target , and to engage in visual mental imagery within that side. Visual imagery and shifting visual attention are known to activate the visual cortex in a regionally specific manner (Blankenburg et al, 2010;Bressler et al, 2008;Greenberg et al, 2010;Hopfinger et al, 2000;Kastner et al, 1999;Kosslyn et al, 2001;Lauritzen et al, 2009;Li et al, 2008;Ruff et al, 2006;Silver et al, 2005Silver et al, , 2007Slotnick et al, 2005;Stokes et al, 2009). We therefore hypothesized that exerting these cognitive strategies in a lateralized manner would recruit visual cortical regions overlapping with the ROI target and thus facilitate control over the differential feedback signal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-regulation of inter-hemispheric visual cortex balance through real-time fMRI neurofeedback training

Robineau¹,

Rieger²,

Mermoud³

et al. 2014

NeuroImage

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Recent advances in neurofeedback based on real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allow for learning to control spatially localized brain activity in the range of millimeters across the entire brain. Realtime fMRI neurofeedback studies have demonstrated the feasibility of self-regulating activation in specific areas that are involved in a variety of functions, such as perception, motor control, language, and emotional processing. In most of these previous studies, participants trained to control activity within one region of interest (ROI). In the present study, we extended the neurofeedback approach by now training healthy participants to control the interhemispheric balance between their left and right visual cortices. This was accomplished by providing feedback based on the difference in activity between a target visual ROI and the corresponding homologue region in the opposite hemisphere. Eight out of 14 participants learned to control the differential feedback signal over the course of 3 neurofeedback training sessions spread over 3 days, i.e., they produced consistent increases in the visual target ROI relative to the opposite visual cortex. Those who learned to control the differential feedback signal were subsequently also able to exert that control in the absence of neurofeedback. Such learning to voluntarily control the balance between cortical areas of the two hemispheres might offer promising rehabilitation approaches for neurological or psychiatric conditions associated with pathological asymmetries in brain activity patterns, such as hemispatial neglect, dyslexia, or mood disorders.

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Studying the Role of Human Parietal Cortex in Visuospatial Attention with Concurrent TMS-fMRI

Cited by 119 publications

References 65 publications

Posttraining Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Striate Cortex Disrupts Consolidation Early in Visual Skill Learning

Posttraining Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Striate Cortex Disrupts Consolidation Early in Visual Skill Learning

Causal evidence for frontal involvement in memory target maintenance by posterior brain areas during distracter interference of visual working memory

Self-regulation of inter-hemispheric visual cortex balance through real-time fMRI neurofeedback training

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