School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia.
School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia.
Neuroimage. 2019 Aug 1;196:41-48. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.026. Epub 2019 Apr 9.
Applying a weak electrical current to the cortex can have effects on a range of behaviours. Techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been widely used in both research and clinical settings. However, there is significant variability across individuals in terms of their responsiveness to stimulation, which poses practical challenges to the application of tDCS, but also provides a unique opportunity to study the link between the brain and behaviour. Here, we assessed the role of individual differences in cortical morphology - specifically in prefrontal cortical regions of interest - for determining the influence of tDCS on decision-making performance. Specifically, we employed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a previously replicated paradigm in which we modulated learning in a simple decision-making task by applying tDCS to the left prefrontal cortex in human subjects of both sexes. Cortical thickness of the left (but not right) prefrontal cortex accounted for almost 35% of the variance in stimulation efficacy across subjects. This is the first demonstration that variations in cortical architecture are associated with reliable differences in the effects of tDCS on cognition. Our findings have important implications for predicting the likely efficacy of different non-invasive brain stimulation treatments on a case by case basis.
将微弱电流施加到大脑皮层会对一系列行为产生影响。经颅直流电刺激(tDCS)等技术已广泛应用于研究和临床环境中。然而,个体对刺激的反应存在显著差异,这对 tDCS 的应用提出了实际挑战,但也为研究大脑与行为之间的联系提供了独特的机会。在这里,我们评估了皮质形态学个体差异的作用——特别是在前额叶皮质感兴趣区域——对于确定 tDCS 对决策表现的影响。具体来说,我们采用了磁共振成像(MRI)和先前复制的范式,通过在人类受试者的左前额叶施加 tDCS 来调节简单决策任务中的学习。左侧(而非右侧)前额皮质的皮质厚度解释了刺激效果在受试者之间存在差异的近 35%。这是首次证明皮质结构的变化与 tDCS 对认知的影响存在可靠差异有关。我们的发现对基于具体情况预测不同非侵入性脑刺激治疗的可能疗效具有重要意义。
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