The Brain Stimulation Journal:
Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation Feed. This feed contains the latest published articles, both articles that have been published in an issue as well as articles that have been published as Articles in Press.
- LTP-like cortical plasticity is associated with verbal memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease patientsAlzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a primary impairment of long-term declarative memory caused by deposition of misfolded protein aggregates. Experimental studies showed that AD neuropathological alterations impair synaptic plasticity and memory performance. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation protocols have been recently introduced to investigate altered mechanisms of cortical plasticity in AD patients. ... read more
- Modulation of neuroinflammation and memory dysfunction using percutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in miceThe vagus nerve is involved in regulating immunity and resolving inflammation. Current strategies aimed at modulating neuroinflammation and cognitive decline, in many cases, are limited and ineffective. ... read more
- Novel tools for rapid online data acquisition of the TMS stimulus-response curveA change in the input-output relationship between transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the motor evoked potential (MEP) may be used as a marker for neuroplasticity [1–3]. Traditionally, stimulus response (SR) curve data are acquired using 3–10 stimulation intensity bins determined a priori as a percentage of the resting or active motor threshold, with 5–20 stimuli/bin and interstimulus intervals (ISI) ranging from 3 to 10 s. Data acquisition often exceeds 10 min, and therefore curves can susceptible to changes in corticospinal excitability as a result of attention, drowsiness and emotional state [4–7]. ... read more
- Moral attitudes and willingness to induce cognitive enhancement and repair with brain stimulationThe availability of technological means to enhance and repair human cognitive function raises questions about the perceived morality of their use. However, we have limited knowledge about the public's intuitive attitudes toward uses of brain stimulation. Studies that enlighten us about the public's willingness to endorse specific uses of brain stimulation on themselves and others could provide a basis for to understand the moral psychology guiding intuitions about neuromodulation and opportunities to inform public education and public policy. ... read more
- Vagus nerve stimulation promotes generalization of conditioned fear extinction and reduces anxiety in ratsExposure-based therapies are used to treat a variety of trauma- and anxiety-related disorders by generating successful extinction following cue exposure during treatment. The development of adjuvant strategies that accelerate extinction learning, improve tolerability, and increase efficiency of treatment could increase the efficacy of exposure-based therapies. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) paired with exposure can enhance fear extinction, in rat models of psychiatric disorders, and chronic administration of VNS reduces anxiety in rats and humans. ... read more
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) for improving oromotor function in newbornsInfants born prematurely or who suffer a global hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) are at high risk for motor problems, which manifest as feeding delays during their hospital admission. Oromotor dyscoordination is common in these infants, and feeding difficulty is the primary reason for delayed discharge [1]. Many infants who do not master this motor skill before term age (40–42 weeks gestation) will receive a gastrostomy tube (G-tube) for direct gastric feeding. Furthermore, feeding difficulties in infants are associated with later language delays, even in the absence of gross motor impairment [2]. ... read more
- Effects of single versus dual-site High-Definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) on cortical reactivity and working memory performance in healthy subjectsPrevious research has typically focussed on the neuromodulatory effects of direct currents applied over single regions of the cortex. However, complex processes such as working memory (WM) strongly rely on activations across a wider neural network and therefore might benefit from stimulation administered over multiple cortical targets. ... read more
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may improve symptoms of anhedonia in individuals with cocaine use disorder: A pilot studyCocaine use disorder (CUD) is characterized by positive symptoms, such as craving, and negative affective states, all of which may drive drug taking and relapse. One prominent symptom that is part of the negative affective states is termed anhedonia, and is defined as an impaired ability to experience pleasure from natural rewards such as food, water, sex, and nurturing. From a neurobiological standpoint, disruption in dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic reward processing plays an important role in the development of anhedonia [1]. ... read more
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for Tourette syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysisWhile previous studies have investigated the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in treating Tourette syndrome (TS), the results remain inconclusive. ... read more
- Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation affects auditory cortex plasticity in normal-hearing and noise-exposed ratsTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive tool capable to modulate cortical functions by affecting neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity. ... read more