TMS Over the Cerebellum Interferes with Short-term Memory of Visual Sequences

Ferrari, Chiara; Cattaneo, Zaira; Oldrati, Viola; Casiraghi, Letizia; Castelli, Fulvia; D’Angelo, Egidio; Vecchi, Tomaso

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25151-y

Cited by 39 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The minimum sample size was estimated through G*Power 33 using as effect size ηp 2 = 0.20, α = 0.05, 1 − β = 0.95 and correlation among repeated measurements r = 0.50. The effect size estimation was performed following experimental evidence reported by TMS studies targeting the right cerebellum 35 . The minimum sample size was 16.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A causal role for the cerebellum in semantic integration: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

Gatti

Vugt

Vecchi

2020

Sci Rep

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Mounting evidence suggests that the cerebellum, a structure previously linked to motor function, is also involved in a wide range of non-motor processes. It has been proposed that the cerebellum performs the same computational processes in both motor and non-motor domains. Within motor functions, the cerebellum is involved in the integration of signals from multiple systems. Here we hypothesized that cerebellum may be involved in integration within semantic memory as well. Specifically, understanding a noun-adjective combination (e.g. red apple) requires combining the meaning of the adjective (red) with the meaning of the noun (apple). In two experiments, participants were asked to judge whether noun-adjective word-pairs were semantically related (e.g., red apple) or not (e.g., lucky milk) while online transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was administered over the right cerebellum or over a control site (vertex in Experiment 1 and visual cortex in Experiment 2). Cerebellar TMS caused a decrease in participants’ accuracy for related word-pairs while accuracy for unrelated stimuli was not affected. A third experiment using a control task where subjects compared pairs of random letters showed no effect of TMS. Taken together these results indicate that the right cerebellum is involved specifically in the processing of semantically related stimuli. These results are consistent with theories that proposed the existence of a unified cerebellar function within motor and non-motor domains, as well with recent perspectives about cerebellar involvement in semantic memory and predictive cognition.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method of stimulation has been adopted successfully previously in TMS experiments targeting the cerebellum (e.g. 35,[54][55][56][57][58] ).…”

Section: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Tms)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A causal role for the cerebellum in semantic integration: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

Gatti

Vugt

Vecchi

2020

Sci Rep

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“…The cerebellar contribution to working memory has been reported by several studies in humans. Cerebellar damages or dysfunctions often lead to working memory impairments [3,[134][135][136]. In order to investigate this aspect of cerebellar function in behaving mice, Deverett and colleagues exploited optogenetics to test whether direct, precise and transient disruption of cerebellar activity modulated the accumulation of sensory information in working memory [129].…”

Section: Working Memory and Decision-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Optogenetic Revolution in Cerebellar Investigations

Prestori

Montagna

D’Angelo

et al. 2020

IJMS

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The cerebellum is most renowned for its role in sensorimotor control and coordination, but a growing number of anatomical and physiological studies are demonstrating its deep involvement in cognitive and emotional functions. Recently, the development and refinement of optogenetic techniques boosted research in the cerebellar field and, impressively, revolutionized the methodological approach and endowed the investigations with entirely new capabilities. This translated into a significant improvement in the data acquired for sensorimotor tests, allowing one to correlate single-cell activity with motor behavior to the extent of determining the role of single neuronal types and single connection pathways in controlling precise aspects of movement kinematics. These levels of specificity in correlating neuronal activity to behavior could not be achieved in the past, when electrical and pharmacological stimulations were the only available experimental tools. The application of optogenetics to the investigation of the cerebellar role in higher-order and cognitive functions, which involves a high degree of connectivity with multiple brain areas, has been even more significant. It is possible that, in this field, optogenetics has changed the game, and the number of investigations using optogenetics to study the cerebellar role in non-sensorimotor functions in awake animals is growing. The main issues addressed by these studies are the cerebellar role in epilepsy (through connections to the hippocampus and the temporal lobe), schizophrenia and cognition, working memory for decision making, and social behavior. It is also worth noting that optogenetics opened a new perspective for cerebellar neurostimulation in patients (e.g., for epilepsy treatment and stroke rehabilitation), promising unprecedented specificity in the targeted pathways that could be either activated or inhibited.

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“…Many forebrain regions implicated in evidence accumulation receive input from the lateral posterior cerebellum [8][9][10] , and disruption of the human cerebellum produces working memory impairments [11][12][13][14] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Cerebellar disruption impairs working memory during evidence accumulation

Deverett

Kislin

Tank

et al. 2019

Preprint

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To select actions based on sensory evidence, animals must create and manipulate representations of stimulus information in memory. We found that during accumulation of somatosensory evidence, optogenetic manipulation of cerebellar Purkinje cells reduced the accuracy of subsequent memoryguided decisions and caused mice to downweight prior information. Behavioral deficits were consistent with the present study we trained 13 mice on this task over hundreds of behavioral sessions (Fig. 1b, Supplementary Fig. 1).

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TMS Over the Cerebellum Interferes with Short-term Memory of Visual Sequences

Cited by 39 publications

References 61 publications

A causal role for the cerebellum in semantic integration: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

A causal role for the cerebellum in semantic integration: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

The Optogenetic Revolution in Cerebellar Investigations

Cerebellar disruption impairs working memory during evidence accumulation

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