Lecture 10 - Interfering with brain function Flashcards
What does TMS stand for?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
What does tDCS stand for?
Transcranial direct current stimulation
What is brain stimulation?
Non invasive technique using a magnetic coil to induce a voltage or electrodes to induce current into brain tissue
What is brain stimulation used for?
To investigate the causal function of a target brain area
See how behaviour changes if we interfere with a brain function, rather than just measuring it.
What is TMS?
a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate the brain
What is the control condition for TMS?
Sham condition
Where a fake pulse is emitted or a different brain region is affected
What are virtual lesions?
Created by TMS
Brain regions become temporarily impaired or disconnected
Allows us to study the causal involvement in certain brain functions in behaviour.
How do we test the causal contributions?
Combine TMS technique with carefully designed behavioural experiments
If the brain region is causally involves in a certain function, TMS will …
cause difference in performance (errors) and speed (reaction times) compared to a control condition
What are the benefits of TMS?
Brain research
Medical research
How does TMS help with brain research?
- Precise localisation of brain regions
can also be used in combination with eeg or fmri - Temporary brain impairment without long term consequences
saving lives of test animals
study brain function disruption in the same person
How does TMS hep with medical research?
Many therapeutic benefits of TMS for conditions including:
- depression
- addiction
- stroke rehabilitation
- parkinsons
- chronic pain
What is tCDS? How does it work?
Non invasive painless brain stimulation treatment that uses direct electrical currents to stimulate specific parts of the brain
Constant low intensity current is passed through two electrodes placed over the head which modulates neural activity
What are the two types of stimulation with tDCS?
Anodal stimulation - acts to excite neuronal activity
Cathodal stimulation - inhibits or reduces neuronal activity
What are the advantages of tDCS?
- cheap, non invasive, painless
- easy to administer and portable equipment
- minimal side effects
- valuable for treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, parkinsons, chronic pain, brain injury, and relieving symptoms of language and movement disorders
- cognitive improvement