No aftereffect of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) on theta activity during an inter-sensory selective attention task

IF 2.5 3区心理学 Q3 NEUROSCIENCES

International Journal of Psychophysiology Pub Date : 2025-02-24 DOI:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2025.112539

Audrey Murray , Isabelle Soulières , Dave Saint-Amour

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Selective attention is essential to filter the constant flow of sensory information reaching the brain. The contribution of theta neuronal oscillations to attentional function has been the subject of several electrophysiological studies, yet no causal relationship has been established between theta rhythms and selective attention mechanisms.

Objective and hypotheses

We aimed to clarify the causal role of theta oscillations in inter-sensory selective attention processes by combining transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and electrophysiology (EEG) techniques. We hypothesized that modulation of theta activity by tACS enhances selective attention, with greater behavioral efficiency and theta power over fronto-central regions after theta-tACS compared to control conditions.

Methods

In a double-blinded within-subject study conducted in young adults (n = 20), three stimulation conditions were applied prior to a cued inter-sensory (auditory and visual) selective attention task. The frequency of theta stimulation was individualized to match the endogenous theta peak of each participant. In addition to a sham condition, stimulation at an off-target frequency (20 Hz) was also applied. We analyzed behavioral efficiency and variability measures and performed spectral and time-frequency power analyses.

Results

No statistically significant differences in task performance or theta EEG activity were found between theta-tACS and control-tACS conditions (ps > 0.05).

Conclusions

The results of our study suggest that theta-tACS did not modulate performance or offline oscillations in the context of inter-sensory attention. These findings challenge the design of tACS protocols for future studies aiming to understand the contribution of theta oscillations in attentional processes.

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经颅交流电刺激（tACS）对感觉间选择性注意任务中的θ波活动无后效应。

背景：选择性注意对于过滤到达大脑的源源不断的感觉信息流是必不可少的。theta神经元振荡对注意功能的贡献一直是一些电生理学研究的主题，但尚未建立theta节律与选择性注意机制之间的因果关系。目的和假设：我们旨在通过结合经颅交流电刺激（tACS）和电生理（EEG）技术来阐明theta振荡在感觉间选择性注意过程中的因果作用。我们假设tACS对theta活动的调节增强了选择性注意，与对照条件相比，在theta-tACS后，前额-中央区域的行为效率和theta能量更高。方法：在一项针对年轻人（n = 20）的双盲研究中，在提示的感觉间（听觉和视觉）选择性注意任务之前，应用了三种刺激条件。刺激的频率是个性化的，以匹配每个参与者的内源性θ峰。除了假条件外，还应用了脱靶频率（20 Hz）的刺激。我们分析了行为效率和可变性措施，并进行了频谱和时频功率分析。结果：theta- tacs组与对照- tacs组在任务表现和theta EEG活动方面无统计学差异（ps > 0.05）。结论：我们的研究结果表明，theta-tACS不调节表现或离线振荡在感觉间注意的背景下。这些发现对旨在了解theta振荡在注意过程中的贡献的未来研究的tACS协议的设计提出了挑战。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Psychophysiology 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

10.00%

发文量

177

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Psychophysiology is the official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, and provides a respected forum for the publication of high quality original contributions on all aspects of psychophysiology. The journal is interdisciplinary and aims to integrate the neurosciences and behavioral sciences. Empirical, theoretical, and review articles are encouraged in the following areas: • Cerebral psychophysiology: including functional brain mapping and neuroimaging with Event-Related Potentials (ERPs), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Electroencephalographic studies. • Autonomic functions: including bilateral electrodermal activity, pupillometry and blood volume changes. • Cardiovascular Psychophysiology:including studies of blood pressure, cardiac functioning and respiration. • Somatic psychophysiology: including muscle activity, eye movements and eye blinks.