Concurrent brain stimulation and fNIRS to probe human cognitive function

Poster Session C - Sunday, April 14, 2024, 5:00 – 7:00 pm EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Amy Miller¹ (ps16am@leeds.ac.uk), Melanie Rose Burke¹; ¹University of Leeds

Objective: Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation (iTBS; Huang et al., 2005), an excitatory form of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), is a promising technique for enhancing cognitive performance. However, the mechanisms by which iTBS induces neuroplasticity are poorly understood. In this study, iTBS was applied to the DLPFC to investigate the effects on functional brain activity and cognition across young, middle and older ages. Methods: In two sessions, forty-five healthy adults aged 19 to 73 years received iTBS over the DLPFC corresponding to F3 (left) and F4 (right) in the International 10-20 System for EEG configuration. Participants completed four computerised cognitive tasks, assessing attention, inhibition, sequence learning and working memory performance before and after iTBS. The Artinis OxyMon functional near infra-red spectroscopy system (fNIRS) with a 12-channel optode arrangement was used to record functional activity over the DLPFC at 10Hz throughout both sessions, including during stimulation and cognitive tasks. The reaction time and amplitude of task-related eye-movements were recorded using an Eyelink 1000 Eye Tracker. Results: FNIRS data analysis is ongoing and will investigate the short-term changes in oxygenated, deoxygenated and total hemoglobin concentrations following iTBS within each task. Initial analysis of the data revealed task- and age-related changes in oxygenated haemoglobin (HbO2) levels following iTBS. Conclusions: In this study we will reveal how iTBS over the DLPFC alters functional brain activity to support a beneficial effect on cognitive performance.

Topic Area: METHODS: Neuroimaging