Paus Tomás
Brain & Body Centre, University of Nottingham, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2005 May 29;360(1457):1109-14. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2005.1652.
When engaged by a stimulus, different nodes of a neural circuit respond in a coordinated fashion. We often ask whether there is a cause and effect in such interregional interactions. This paper proposes that we can infer causality in functional connectivity by employing a 'perturb and measure' approach. In the human brain, this has been achieved by combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalography. Here, I will illustrate this approach by reviewing some of our TMS/PET work, and will conclude by discussing a few methodological and theoretical challenges facing those studying neural connectivity using a perturbation.
当受到刺激时,神经回路的不同节点会以协调的方式做出反应。我们常常会问,这种区域间的相互作用中是否存在因果关系。本文提出,我们可以通过采用“干扰并测量”的方法来推断功能连接中的因果关系。在人类大脑中,这是通过将经颅磁刺激(TMS)与正电子发射断层扫描(PET)、功能磁共振成像或脑电图相结合来实现的。在这里,我将通过回顾我们的一些TMS/PET研究工作来说明这种方法,并在结尾讨论那些使用干扰方法研究神经连接的人所面临的一些方法学和理论挑战。