MEG Unit, Brain Imaging Center, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
German Resilience Center, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Neuroscientist. 2020 Feb;26(1):57-73. doi: 10.1177/1073858419828646. Epub 2019 Feb 7.
Brain oscillations are regarded as important for perception as they open and close time windows for neural spiking to enable the effective communication within and across brain regions. In the past, studies on perception primarily relied on the use of electrophysiological techniques for probing a correlative link between brain oscillations and perception. The emergence of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) provides the possibility to study the causal contribution of specific oscillatory frequencies to perception. Here, we review the studies on visual, auditory, and somatosensory perception that employed tACS to probe the causality of brain oscillations for perception. The current literature is consistent with a causal role of alpha and gamma oscillations in parieto-occipital regions for visual perception and theta and gamma oscillations in auditory cortices for auditory perception. In addition, the sensory gating by alpha oscillations applies not only to the visual but also to the somatosensory domain. We conclude that albeit more refined perceptual paradigms and individualized stimulation practices remain to be systematically adopted, tACS is a promising tool for establishing a causal link between neural oscillations and perception.
脑振荡被认为对感知很重要，因为它们打开和关闭了神经元放电的时间窗口，从而使大脑区域内部和之间能够进行有效的通信。过去，关于感知的研究主要依赖于使用电生理学技术来探究脑振荡与感知之间的相关联系。非侵入性脑刺激技术如经颅交流电刺激（tACS）的出现为研究特定振荡频率对感知的因果贡献提供了可能性。在这里，我们回顾了使用 tACS 来探究感知中脑振荡因果关系的视觉、听觉和体感感知研究。目前的文献一致认为，顶枕部区域的 alpha 和 gamma 振荡对视觉感知具有因果作用，听觉皮层的 theta 和 gamma 振荡对听觉感知具有因果作用。此外，alpha 振荡的感觉门控不仅适用于视觉，也适用于体感领域。我们的结论是，尽管还需要系统地采用更精细的感知范式和个体化的刺激实践，但 tACS 是建立神经振荡与感知之间因果联系的一种很有前途的工具。
